Simmons v. Commonwealth

Howard Stuart Simmons, the defendant, was indicted along, with Early J. Burnett and Gerald R. Martin for the unlawful and felonious burning of a bridge belonging to the Norfolk & Western Railway Company. (Code, § 18.1-81.) The defendant elected to be tried separately. Upon his trial before a jury, he was convicted, and his punishment was fixed at three years in the penitentiary. He was awarded a writ of error to the final judgment confirming the conviction and imposing the sentence.

The sole question to be decided is whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the defendant’s conviction.

The…