Blackburn v. Commonwealth

VaN Sant, Commissioner

Reversing.

The appeal is -from a judgment convicting appellant of the crime of manslaughter and sentencing him to serve fifteen years in the state reformatory.

The only eyewitness introduced by the Commonwealth is Preston Moore, an uncle of the deceased, who admitted that he was drunk at the time the affray took place. This witness told an entirely different story from that testified to by the other six witnesses, one of whom was totally unrelated to either of the parties, five being close relatives of appellant, and the sixth being appellant himself.

Moore testified that…