People v. Fitch

The appellant shot and killed Earl C. Smith at Tule Lake in Modoc County, July 21, 1937. He was convicted of murder of the second degree.

It is contended the verdict and judgment are not supported by the evidence; that the court erred in receiving testimony of the good reputation of the deceased for peaceableness, and in giving to the jury certain instructions.

Earl C. Smith and the defendant's sister, Grace, were husband and wife. They owned seventy-three acres of farm land near Alturas upon which they had resided for five years. They had one son, who was thirteen years of age at the time of…