McKinstry v. State

Appellant, Johnny B. McKinstry, was indicted for second degree murder, Ind. Code § 35-1-54-1, being Burns § 10-3404. In a trial without jury, before Judge William A. Hosinski, appellant was found guilty of second degree murder. He was sentenced to a term of fifteen to twenty-five years and fined two hundred dollars. After the court denied his motion to correct errors, he appealed on two grounds: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding that appellant killed the victim and (2) the sufficiency of the evidence to show that appellant killed the victim “purposely and maliciously.”

Th…