WILL GRAY, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
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.
Will Gray was convicted of assault with intent to commit manslaughter after an alleged attack on George Walker with a knife. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the information was sufficiently clear and the evidence adequately supported the guilty verdict.
The court held that the information was sufficiently clear and not so vague or deficient as to mislead the accused or expose him to double jeopardy, and that the verdict was amply sustained by the evidence presented at trial.
“the information is either so vague, indefinite or deficient as to have misled the accused or embarrass him in the preparation of his defense, or expose him after conviction to substantial danger of a second prosecution for the same offense”
Establishes the standard for sufficiency of an information—it must not mislead the defendant or violate double jeopardy protections
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn April 17, 1909, Will Gray allegedly assaulted George Walker in Duval County, Florida, using a knife as a deadly weapon. Gray was charged by informa…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Assault With Intent To Commit Manslaughter cases and more on FLexlaw
Taylor, J.
In the Criminal Court of Record for Duval County the following information was filed against the plaintiff in error, viz:
“In the name and by the authority of the State of Florida:
DeWitt T. Gray, County Solicitor for the County of Duval, prosecuting for the State of Florida, in the said county, under oath information makes that Will Gray of the County of Duval and State of Florida, on the 17th day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nine, in the County and State aforesaid, with a certain deadly weapon, to-wit, a knife, which he then and there had and held in and upon one George Walker, with a premeditated design and intent him, the said George Walker then and there unlawfully to kill and murder, then and there an assault did make, and him the said George Walker, did then and there beat, bruise, wound and illtreat, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Florida.”
Upon this information he was tried and convicted of assault with intent to commit manslaughter, and brings the judgment here for review by writ of error. Two questions are presented here * first, the sufficiency of. the information which was questioned by motion in arrest, which motion was overruled * and, second the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict.
As to the sufficiency of the information, it is substantially the same as the information tested and upheld in the case of Pyke v. State, 47 Fla. 93, 36 South. Rep. 577, and we see no reason for overturning the reasoning and results of that case, particularly when the assault upon the information was postponed until after verdict. We do not think that the information is either so vague, indefinite or deficient as to have misled the accused or embarrass him in the preparation of his defense, or expose him after conviction to substantial danger of a second prosecution for the same offense. Section 3962, General Statutes of 1906.
Without going into any fruitless discussion of it in detail, we are of the opinion that the verdict returned is amply sustained by the proofs.
Finding no error, the judgment of the court below in said cause is hereby affirmed at the cost of Duval County, the plaintiff in error having been adjudged to be insolvent.
Hocker and Parkhill, JJ., concur. Whitfield, C. J. and Cockrell and Shackleford, JJ., concur in the opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Pell v. State, 97 Fla. 650 (Fla. 1929)…orms the accused of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, see [*668] Sec. 11, Declaration of Eights, and is not vague or indefinite so as to mislead the accused or expose him to the danger of a new prosecution for the same offense. See 58 Fla. 54; 74 Fla. 200; 52 Fla. 110; 58 Fla. 74; 51 Fla. 44; 51 Fla. 82. The decision in the Simmons case, 32 Fla. 387, 13 So. R. 896, was disapproved in 52 Fla. 18, 24. The form of indictment used in this case was approved in 94 Fla. 32, 45, 113 So. R. 630,…
-
Will Tindall v. State, 99 Fla. 1132 (Fla. 1930)…tial danger of another prosecution for the same offense. As applied to indictments for perjury, see Bennett v. State, 65 Fla. 84, 61 So. R. 127; Jarvis v. State, 73 Fla. 635, 74 So. R. 794; Edwards v. State, 62 Fla. 40, 56 So. R. 401; Gray v. State, 58 Fla. 54, 50 So. R. 538; Mills v. State, 58 Fla. 74, 51 So. R. 278; Johnson v. State, 51 Fla. 44, 40 So. R. 678. It is clearly shown by the indictment itself that the grand jury was investigating the illicit sale of intoxicating liquors by Mrs. Bertie Wiggi…
-
Ward v. State, 83 Fla. 311 (Fla. 1922)…ense or expose him to substantial danger of a new prosecution for the same offense.” Jarvis v. State, 73 Fla. 635, 74 South. Rep. 794; Bennett v. State, 65 Fla. 84, 61 South. Rep. 127; Edwards v. State, 62 Fla. 40, 56 South. Rep. 401; Gray v. State, 58 Fla. 54. 50 South. Rep. 538; Mills v. State, 58 Fla. 74, 51 South. Rep. 278; Johnson v. State, 51 Fla. 44, 40 South. Rep. 678. The indictment may be imperfect in some respects. The truth of the alleged false swearing could and should have been more positiv…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Pyke v. State, 47 Fla. 93 (Fla. 1904)