Simmerman v. State

Lake, Ch. J.

The most important objection made to the conviction of the prisoner, and the only one made in the motion for a new trial is, that the verdict is not supported by the evidence, and to this we shall chiefly direct our attention.

The conviction was of murder in the fii’st degree, the punishment of which is death. To have justified such a verdict the evidence should have been sufficient to show that the act of killing was done not only “ purposely ” but also with “deliberate and premeditated malice.” If the evidence fall short of this, if it were only sufficient to show, at most, the…