People v. Davis

Defendant, following his conviction of murder in the second degree, appeals from the judgment on the grounds that the evidence is insufficient, that the homicide was justified and that the exclusion of testimony of specific acts of violence on the part of the deceased was prejudicial error.

The deceased, Norman Reed Morris, was the common-law husband of Mattie Gillen, defendant’s mother-in-law. On December 8, 1962, a Saturday, following a beating by Morris she left the home in which they had been residing and asked her daughter and defendant to allow her to stay with them. She was emotionally…