State v. Taylor

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Herd, J.:

Harry L. Taylor was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder (K.S.A. 21-3402) on March 4, 1981. This is an appeal from that conviction.

This prosecution arose from the following events. Efelton Sanders was the owner and operator of a grocery and gambling establishment in Topeka called the Party Shack. Melvin Walker, Jr., who Sanders considered a stepson, worked there on occasion. Sanders kept a .38 pistol at the Party Shack. Walker also had access to the gun. On July 12, 1980, prior to leaving on a trip to Kansas City with his friend, Harry…