Stillman E. Wilbur, Jr. v. Garrell S. Mullaney

ALDRICH, Senior Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Wilbur was convicted in the Maine Superior Court of the murder of one Hebert as a result of a beating. Wilbur did not take the stand. The principal evidence against him was his statement to the police, the admissibility of which is not presently controverted, that he did the act. This concession was coupled with an assertion that he had not intended to kill, and that the whole episode was the spontaneous result of anger provoked by a homosexual overture by Hebert. As to this the court placed the burden upon the petitioner. It charged the jury,

“ ‘In all…