State v. Shawley

Tbe defendant was charged by indictment with murder in tbe first degree, and tried in tbe Scotland County Circuit Court. On the first trial tbe jury disagreed; on tbe second he was convicted and his punishment assessed by tbe jury at life imprisonment. He appeals but has filed no brief. His motion for new trial contains twenty-six assignments of error. Such of these as merit consideration will be discussed in tbe course of tbe opinion. One challenges tbe sufficiency of tbe evidence. As the State’s proof was wholly circumstantial, and rests largely on “bloodhound” testimony and tbe testimony…