People v. Riser

Richard G. Riser and his brother Roscoe R. Riser were charged by indictment with the murder of Earl and Pauline Hastings. The jury returned verdicts of guilty of murder in the first degree, without fixing the punishment at life imprisonment in the case of Richard G. Riser. The court denied his motion for a new trial and sentenced him to death. His appeal to this court is automatic under section 1239, subdivision (b) of the Penal Code.

Just before midnight on July 11, 1955, Earl and Pauline Hastings, proprietors of the Hilltop Café near Oakdale in Stanislaus County, were shot and killed during…