State v. Newton

The defendant is appealing from a conviction for assault and battery by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.

The defendant raises two assignments of error: That the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal, and in denying his motion for a new trial. They will be treated as a single claim, since they deal with the same basic question. ①

On September 3, 1967, James H. Olson and the defendant were confined in the isolation area of Rocky Butte jail in Multnomah County. That evening, one Russell Keith Gorsuch was placed in the same cell…