104 Ga. 521 | Ga. | 1898
Edgar Stripling and Terrell Huff were indicted for the murder of William J. Cornett. They were jointly tried and found guilty, with a recommendation to the mercy of the court; and their motion for a new trial being overruled, they excepted. Since the case reached this court by writ of error, the defendant Stripling escaped jail and is now at large. We therefore do not now decide his case. There were various grounds in the motion for a new trial, many of which evidently related solely to contentions made in behalf of the defendant Stripling, and have no application to the defense set up by the defendant Huff, whose case is now before us for decision. We do not, therefore, consider in this opinion these grounds in the motion, but only such as relate to Huff’s case. It appears from the record-in the case, that Cornett was assassinated in his bedroom about eleven o’clock at night, as he was in the act of disrobing for the purpose of retiring to bed. There were evidently two persons that did the killing. The tracks of two persons were traced from the direction of Huff’s house to Cor-nett’s ; two shots were fired, one immediately after the other, the reports which witnesses heard indicating that one was a. shotgun and the other a rifle or pistol; two panes of glass were blown out by the shot, one indicating that it was pierced by a bullet, and the other by a number of shot; and two gunshot wounds were found on the body of the deceased. Stripling admitted that he was one of the parties who did the killing, and sought to justify on the ground that the deceased attempted to seduce his sister, had insulted his wife, and had threatened his life. Huff denied that he had anything whatever to do with the homicide. There was no contention in his behalf that he had any excuse or justification to take the life of Cornett. The evidence for the State as against Huff showed that he was in
Judgment affirmed.