James H. Thomas, Jr. v. United States

Appellant was tried for and convicted of second degree murder and carrying a dangerous weapon. On this appeal he makes three points: (1) the trial court’s extensive cross-examination of appellant before the jury was prejudicial; (2) the prosecutor in summation misrepresented the testimony of a Government witness in an area crucial to his case; and (3) no charge on involuntary manslaughter was given the jury in spite of his defense that the killing was accidental.

On May 5, 1967, appellant drove to the 11th Precinct Police Station and told Officer Allen: “There is a body in the front seat of…