United States v. Charles Comer

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

During the early morning hours of Friday, November 10, 1967, Mrs. Sarah Comer bled to death from a stab wound in her left thigh. Appellant, her husband of 19 years, was charged with inflicting the fatal wound. A jury found him guilty of second degree murder (22 D.C.Code § 2403 (1967)), and the District Court sentenced appellant to prison for ten to 30 years.

On this appeal, appellant primarily 1 challenges the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury on manslaughter despite appellant’s timely request. For the reasons set forth below, we agree that the trial…