People v. Walker

John Edward Walker was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to the penitentiary. He has appealed his conviction to this Court. The conduct of the district attorney, in our opinion, requires us to reverse and to order a new trial.

After withholding evidence favorable to the defendant, the district attorney magnified his error in his argument to the jury. He argued to the jury that the defense had failed to produce the gun which the defendant alleged the deceased victim had used in the gunfight that preceded his death. The argument was improper, because the prosecution not only had…