State v. Brizendine

PRITCHARD, Commissioner.

In this case of murder in the first degree, for which defendant’s punishment was set at life imprisonment by a jury, the sole issue is whether defendant was entitled to have the jury instructed upon a defense of insanity at the time of the commission of the crime.

On the evening of October 6, 1963, defendant, referred to as “Flapjack,” came into the Lafayette Hotel, at 1205 Troost in Kansas City, Missouri, spoke to the night clerk, Mary Anderson, and went upstairs. A few minutes later Mary heard a noise, and defendant came back down. Then Janice Clark came down and made…