Powell v. State

Hall, Presiding Judge.

Robert Powell was indicted for the December 1972 murder of Griffin Evans, and charged with having beaten him to death with a hammer. He was tried by a jury; was convicted of voluntary manslaughter; and appeals the denial of his new trial motion.

The parties stipulated that Evans died as a result of a blow or blows to the face with a blunt instrument. At trial, two policemen testified that they were called on the morning of December 16, 1972 to the residence of Julia Hawthorne near whose rear kitchen door Evans’ body was found in a pool of blood, bearing marks of eleven…