Coleman v. Commonwealth

Opinion of the Court by

Judge Cammack

Reversing.

Butler Coleman was sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing Lawson Hager by stabbing bim with a knife in August, 1946. The principal grounds urged for reversal are (1) that the court erred in refusing to permit Coleman to introduce certain evidence; and (2) the self-defense instruction was erroneous. It is insisted also the verdict is flagrantly against the evidence and that there was misconduct on the part of the Commonwealth’s attorney in his closing argument. Since we have decided the judgment must be reversed on the first ground, we will…