A. H. ANDERSON, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, DEFENDANT IN ERROR

Fla. | 1902-06-01
44 Fla. 413 Florida Supreme Court (1902) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed A. H. Anderson's conviction for assault with intent to murder, holding that the information adequately alleged the requisite intent to kill by distinctly connecting the premeditated design and intent to murder with the assault itself.


Holding

The court held that the information sufficiently alleged the intent to murder by distinctly charging that Anderson acted with premeditated design and intent to kill Miller and that this intent was properly connected in point of time with the assault and the use of the deadly weapon, distinguishing the case from Hogan and Ruis where intent was left to uncertain inference.


Key Quotes

“the purpose of the section is to punish assaults made with intent to commit a substantive crime of felony, and that this intent is the gist of the offense to the attempted felony and should be alleged with the same certainty required as to other material allegations”

Establishes that intent to commit felony is the essential element of the crime that must be alleged with particularity, not left to inference

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Anderson was charged by information with assault with intent to murder on George L. Miller on July 29, 1899, using a pistol as a deadly weapon. The in…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
Mabry, J.

Mabry, J.

An information for an assault with intent to murder was filed in the Criminal Court of Record for Duval county against plaintiff in error.' The charging part of the information is that the defendant “on the 29th day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred! and ninety-nine, in the county and State aforesaid, of his malice aforethought and with a premeditated design and intent unlawfully to kill and murder one George L. Miller, in and upon him the said George L. Miller an assault did make.with a certain deadly weapon, to-wit: a' pistol, which he the said A. H. Anderson then and there held in his hands, andl him the said George L. Miller did then and ¡there heat, .bruise, wound and illtreat; wherefore, by .virtue of the statute in such cases made and provided, the said A. H. Anderson is deemed to have committed the crimje of assault with intent to murder, contrary to the form of the statute,” &c.

After arraignment the defendant was convicted of the crime charged, and mlovedl in arrest of judgment on the grounds that the information was insufficient din form and substance to base any judgment on, and failed to charge an assault with intent to murder, and did not charge any of the offenses covered. by ¡section -, Revised Statutes, or any crime under the laws ¡of the State. The motion was overruled by the court and the defendant sentenced to the State penitentiary.

The error assigned and! insisted on is the ruling of the court denying the motion in arrest of judgmlent.

It. is contended by counsel for plaintiff in error that the information fails to allege that the assault was made With intent to murder, as required by the rulings in the cases of Hogan v. State, 42 Fla. 562, 28 South. Rep. 763, and Ruis v. State, 43 Fla. 186, 30 South. Rep. 803. The information in the present case, as in the cases cited, is framed under section 2403 Revised Statutes, and ac cording to our ruling the purpose of the section is ¡to punish assaults made with intent to commit a substantive crime of felony, and that this intent is the gist of the offense ito the attempted felony and should be alleged with the same certainty required as to other material allegations. In the Hogan case the information alleged that the defendants on a given date in a diesigr nated locality committed an assault with a deadly weapon upon a certain person and then and there did heat, bruise, wound and illtreat him, the said defendants then and there having a premeditated design and intent then and there unlawfully to kill and murder. It was held that-the intent nfust not be left to uncertain inference, and that a mere statement of such intent in the conclusion of the information by way of legal deductions from facts previously alleged was not sufficient. The ruling in -the Buis case is to the same effect. We are of opinion that the information in the case now before ns differs from those in the cases cited, and that the intent with which the assault was made is stated with sufficient definiteness aniel certainty. It is distinctly alleged that on a certain date the defendant with a premeditated design and intent unlawfully to kill and murder one Miller bd and upon him an assault did make with a certain deadly weapon, and him said Miller did then and there heat, bruise, wound and! illtrefit. This sufficiently connects in point of time the feloneons intent with the assault and the information is not objectionable on the ground urged. We are of opinion therefore, that the dour.t did mot err in overruling the motion in arrest of judgment, and the judgment must be affirmed.

Order to be entered 'affirming the judgment..


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Barber v. State, 52 Fla. 5 (Fla. 1906)
    …1892), consists in the intent-with which the assault is made.” See Williams v. State, 41 Fla. 295, 26 South. Rep. 184; Gray and Hopkins v. State, 44 Fla. 436, 33 South. Rep. 295; Brinkley v. State, 44 Fla. 416, 33 South. Rep. 296; Anderson v. State, 44 Fla. 413, 33 South. Rep. 294; Knight v. State, 44 Fla. 94, 32 South. Rep. 110; Drummer v. State, 45 Fla. 17, 33 South. Rep. 1008; McDonald v. State, 46 Fla. 149, 35 South. Rep. 72; Pyke v. State, 47 Fla. 93, 36 South. Rep. 577. Also see Pitman v. State, 25 F…
  • Risden McDonald v. State, 46 Fla. 149 (Fla. 1903)
    …pistol was loaded and that the assault was committed by discharging it at the person assaulted, is properly admissible.” Also see Brinkley v. State, 44 Fla. 416, 33 South. Rep. 296; Gray v. State, 44 Fla. 436, 33 South. Rep. 295; Anderson v. State, 44 Fla. 413, 33 South. Rep. 394; Drummer v. State, 45 Fla. 17, 33 South. Rep. 1008. The second error assigned is based upon the denial by the trial court of the motion for a new trial. We can not consider this assignment for the reason that said motion for a n…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw