RAY HAAG
v.
STATE
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The Florida Supreme Court reversed a wife desertion conviction, holding that the evidence was insufficient to establish a legal marriage, which is a prerequisite for the offense.
No, the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction because it raised a reasonable doubt as to the existence of any marriage relation between the defendant and the alleged wife.
“where the evidence in a case of conivction for felony is not of a convincing character, but on the contrary bears earmarks of falsehood and uncertainty, the judgment should be revers'ed and a new trial awarded.”
Establishes the standard for reviewing convictions based on unconvincing evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRay Haag was convicted of wife desertion and sentenced to one year in prison. The conviction was based on a jury verdict, which the trial judge approv…
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Ray Haag, the plaintiff in error, was adjudged guilty of the crime of wife desertion and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment therefor. On writ of error reversal of the judgment is sought, principally upon the ground that a sufficient legal predicate to sustain the conviction is' not to be found in the record, notwithstanding the jury’s verdict of guilty and the approval by the trial judge- of that verdict be denial of a motion for a new trial.
We think the judgment should be reversed on the authority of Council v. State, 11 Fla. 173, 149 Sou. Rep. 13, wherein this Court held that where the evidence in a case of conivction for felony is not of a convincing character, but on the contrary bears earmarks of falsehood and uncertainty, the judgment should be revers'ed and a new trial awarded. See also: Fuller v. State, 92 Fla. 873, 110 Sou. Rep. 528, Troop v. State, 98 Fla. 385, 123 Sou. Rep. 811, and Williams v. State, 100 Fla. 814, 130 Sou. Rep. 456.
To constitute the statutory offense of abandonment of a wife, there must be an act of abandonment, coupled with neglect or refusal to maintain and provide for the wife, without just cause therefor. Where the evidence in the *783case as a whole, as in this' case, is in law sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt as to the existence at all of any marriage relation between the defendant and .the alleged wife -named in the indictment, a verdict of guilty of the offense of wife abandonment under the statute (Section 7654 C. G. L., 5496 R. G. S.) should be set aside, and a new trial awarded.
Reversed.
Whitfield, Brown and Buford, J. J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Callaway v. State, 112 Fla. 599 (Fla. 1933)…of the Criminal Court of Record should be reversed and a new trial awarded on the ground that the ends of justice will be best subserved by granting a new trial on the authority of Council v. State, 111 Fla. 173, 149 Sou. Rep. 13, and Haag v. State, 111 Fla. 781, 149 Sou. Rep. 566, wherein it was held that where evidence supporting a conviction for felony bears such earmarks of falsehood and uncertainty as to amount to a legal insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, a new trial will be awarded…
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Forest Gant v. State, 114 Fla. 23 (Fla. 1934)…imony of a direct and positive character, clearly pointing to the defendant’s guilt, is sufficient to sustain the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, which is of a more convincing character than that held inadequate in Haag v. State, 111 Fla. 781, 149 Sou. Rep. 566, and cases cited. Nor did the trial court err in allowing in evidence testimony of the officers regarding the secreted cowhides found buried in Forest Gant’s premises. There was a legal predicate therefor offered, and apparently…
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Deal v. Mayo, 76 So. 2d 275 (Fla. 1954)…tion and withholding the means of support, it matters not how long continued, constitute but one offense and only one prosecution will lie therefor. This view is supported by Brooke v. State, 99 Fla. 1275, 128 So. 814, 69 A.L.R. 1173; Haag v. State, 111 Fla. 781, 149 So. 566; Bueno v. State, 40 Fla. 160, 23 So. 862; Simmons v. State, 151 Fla. 778, 10 So. 2d 436. We think these cases control the point, so it follows that the one year consecutive sentence under Count Two of the information was void and subje…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fuller v. State, 92 Fla. 873 (Fla. 1926)
- Troop v. State, 98 Fla. 385 (Fla. 1929)
- Williams v. State, 100 Fla. 814 (Fla. 1930)
- Joseph Council v. State, 111 Fla. 173 (Fla. 1933)
- Goff v. State, 111 Fla. 82 (Fla. 1933)