People v. Lee

Lotjghraít, Ch. J.

After a trial in the Supreme Court of Chautauqua County, a jury on April 3, 1947, convicted the defendant of having killed Dorothy Ware in the heat of passion, but in a cruel and unusual manner. Such a homicide is manslaughter in the first degree (Penal Law, § 1050). On an appeal by the defendant, the conviction was reversed by the Appellate Division on the law, since in the opinion of that court, the People had failed to prove the defendant guilty of the crime charged. The order of reversal had the unanimous assent of the Appellate Division, but one of the justices gave the…