Alex McKinney, aka Eleck McKinney, is charged with feloniously assaulting W. M. Street with a shotgun with intent to commit murder. Both the plaintiff and the victim live in Roan Mountain, Tennessee. A day before the incident, Street, a deputy sheriff, had captured a still and whiskey which he believed belonged to the Pla. in error. The next day as Street was passing through Roan Mountain, he was shot in the back by someone who he identified as the Pla.