Byler v. State

Appellant was tried under an indictment charging him with the crime of murder in the first degree, alleged to have been committed by killing Lawrence Harber, who was the sheriff of Izard county, where both appellant and deceased lived. He was found guilty of the crime charged, and the death sentence was pronounced upon the verdict of the jury from which is this appeal.

Appellant discovered, after the trial, that the presiding judge was related within the fourth degree of affinity to the deceased, who was his wife’s second cousin. There was no lack of diligence on appellant’s part in making the…