WESLEY LASSITER, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
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Wesley Lassiter was convicted by jury of assault with intent to commit manslaughter after being indicted for assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and twelve-month sentence, rejecting claims that the verdict was altered and that jury instructions were improper.
The court affirmed the conviction and sentence. The allegation that the verdict was altered was not evidenced by the record and therefore could not be considered. The jury instructions, though potentially objectionable in isolation, were not misleading when read in connection with the entire charge to the jury. The evidence was sufficient to support the verdict.
“An 'assault with intent to commit manslaughter' is an unlawful assault committed in such manner and with such means as would have resulted in the commission of the crime of manslaughter if the person assaulted had then and there died from the affects of the assault.”
Establishes the legal definition of the offense of which Lassiter was convicted.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLassiter was indicted for assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty and was tried before a jury. The jury convic…
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Buford, J.
In this ease the -plaintiff in error was charged by indictment with the crime of assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty and on trial by jury was convicted of the crime of assault with intent to commit manslaughter. He was adjudged to be guilty of such offense and was sentenced' to serve a period of twelve months in the State prison.
To the judgment he took writ of error. An “assault with intent to commit manslaughter” is an unlawful assault committed in such manner and with such means as would have resulted in the commission of the crime of manslaughter if the person assaulted had then and there died from the affects of the assault.
There are two assignments of error. The first is “The Court erred in denying the defendant’s motion for a new trial.” The second, ‘'‘The Court erred in sentencing the plaintiff in error on the verdict as returned by the jury.”
The verdict of the jury as shown by the transcript of the record is as follows: “We the jury, find the defendant guilty of an assault with intent to commit manslaughter.”
It is the contention of the plaintiff in error that the words “with intent,” as contained in the verdict were inserted by the trial judge after .the verdict was presented in. court and before the verdict was filed. This, however, is not evidenced.by the record and it is a well settled rule that the allegations contained in a motion are not self proving. Therefore, the appearance of this allegation in a motion for a new trial is not evidence of the existence of such a condition as could be considered by this Court even if the same was material.
We take it that the verdict as it would have read without the words “with intent” inserted therein would have been entirely sufficient as a basis for a judgment of conviction in this ease under the authority of opinion in the case of Richardson v. The State, 72 Fla. 154, 72 So. R. 665, and cases there cited, and in French v. The State, decided December, 1928, reported 118 So. R. 815.
The motion for a new trial contains reference to certain charges given by the coux-t which are insisted upon as constituting grounds for reversal. The charges complained of, if read alone, might be objectionable, but when they are read in connection in the entire charges given by the court, we do not think that the jury could have been misled by such charges and that any improper phraseology thereof was cured by the language used in the entire charges given by the court.
The evidence was amply sufficient to have sustained a verdict of an assault, with intent to commit a higher offense than manslaughter. There were conflicts in the testimony but the jury, exercising its lawful authority, resolved such conflicts against the contention made by the plaintiff in error and we find no reason to assume that the jury was influenced by any improper motives or by anything outside of the evidence or that the jury was misled to the prejudice of the plaintiff in error. The judgment should be affirmed and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.
Whitfield, P. J., and Strum, J. concur. Terrell, C. J., and Elias, J., concur in the opinion and judgment.
Brown, J.
(dissenting).—I do not see how there can be as to certain classes of cases, any such offense as assault with the intent to commit manslaughter as manslaughter is defined by our statute. The statutory definition of manslaughter appears to eliminate the element of intent to kill, in certain eases; such as deaths resulting from culpable negligence.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Bailey v. State, 224 So. 2d 296 (Fla. 1969)…death of the victim the offense would have been murder in the third degree. The Court also said: “Furthermore, defendant was convicted of a lower degree of crime, to wit, assault with intent to commit manslaughter.” Lassiter v. State, 98 Fla. 370, 123 So. 735 (1929), involved a conviction of the crime of assault with intent to commit manslaughter. The Court defined this crime as follows: “An ‘assault with intent to commit manslaughter’ is an unlawful assault committed in such manner and with means as wo…
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Walker v. State, 44 So.2d 814 (Fla. 1950)…ges here the validity of the judgment finding him *815 guilty of that offense because, he says, there is no such crime under the laws of this state. Aside from the fact that this court has recognized such an offense, Lassiter v. State, 98 Fla. 370, 123 So. 735, we have but to say with reference to this point that there was ample proof that the appellant committed the crime charged in the information and in such situation he is not in a position forcefully to complain of his conviction of an offense of les…
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Taylor v. State, 401 So. 2d 812 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)…ourt has recognized the crime of assault with intent to commit manslaughter in at least four old cases, Devoe v. Tucker, 113 Fla. 805, 152 So. 624 (1934); State ex rel. Brown v. Mayo, 113 Fla. 746, 152 So. 627 (1934); Lassiter v. State, 98 Fla. 370, 123 So. 735 (1929); Kelly v. State, 78 Fla. 636, 83 So. 506 (1919). In Lassiter, Justice Brown, in a dissent, expressed doubt as to the existence of the crime because, he said, the statutory definition of manslaughter appears to eliminate the element of intent…
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- Richardson v. State, 72 Fla. 154 (Fla. 1916)