People v. Allen

The defendants were charged jointly with attempted breaking and entering in the nighttime and they appeal from their conviction below, alleging numerous errors during their trial. The background of this case is as follows:

Defendants Allen and Smith were observed by a Lansing policeman, Holmes, walking south on a street in Lansing around 1:30 a.m., on January 2, 1954. The officer observed them stop in front of Nasiff’s Bar on South Washington avenue; as he later testified at the trial, he shortly heard the sound of splintering wood; he fired some shots and called out to the defendants, who…