Colvin v. Commonwealth

The accused was convicted of malicious wounding and sentenced to the penitentiary for three years. The person wounded was Lamar Colvin, his cousin, with whom he was on very friendly terms. The theory of the prosecution was that he intended to shoot his brother-in-law, Cal Heflin, and shot his cousin by mistake. The defense of the accused was that the shooting was accidental.

Eleven years or more prior to the present controversy, and before Heflin had married the sister of the accused, he had shot Heflin in the ear, claiming to have found him and his sister in a compromising position. “There…