People v. Bright

The defendant was charged with first-degree murder. After waiving a trial by jury and having a bench trial, he was convicted of manslaughter 2 and sentenced to a term of 5 to 15 years imprisonment.

The evidence adduced at trial and the findings of fact made by the trial court reveal that at approximately 4:30 p.m. on May 23, 1971, the defendant, in a dispute over some missing liquor, shot and killed one James LaVal while the latter was in the television room on the second floor of the Belmont Hotel in Flint, Michigan. The defendant lived at the hotel and owned and operated a confectionary…