State v. Thompson

This is an appeal from a judgment and sentence for the crime of murder in the second degree. The appellant is an eighteen-year-old Canadian Indian boy from Deroche, British Columbia. He has a ninth-grade education and is an enrolled member of the Sumas Lakahahmen Tribe No. 52.

On June 14, 1958, he came from his home in Canada to take part in the Stommish, a yearly Indian festival held on the Lummi Indian Reservation near Bellingham. He had been drinking beer in Canada during the morning and continued drinking after his arrival in Bellingham at about 1:00 p. m. At about 8:30 p. m., some friends…