WALLACE PLEAS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE (TWO CASES)
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Wallace Pleas was convicted of two first-degree murders in consolidated trials and sentenced to death. On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, rejecting challenges to the admission of photographs, the trial court's jury instructions on premeditation and heat of passion, and the sufficiency of evidence.
The Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences, holding that the photographs were material and admissible to corroborate witness testimony; the trial court's jury instructions were adequate; and the evidence was abundantly sufficient to support the guilty verdicts without recommendation of mercy.
“The evidence is abundantly sufficient to support the verdict of guilty. The matter of a "recommendation to mercy" is a matter entirely in the discretion of the jury.”
Establishes that sufficiency of evidence was proven and that jury discretion on mercy is not subject to appellate review.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn September 14, 1964, defendant Wallace Pleas shot and killed Precious Rollins and Carrie Mae Stinson, inflicting gunshot wounds that caused their de…
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The appellant, Wallace Pleas, was charged with murder in the first degree, in one indictment alleging the unlawful killing of Precious Rollins and the other indictment alleging the unlawful killing of Carrie Mae Stinson. The cases were consolidated for trial with consent of counsel and the appellant was found guilty of murder in the first degree without recommendation of mercy in both cases. A motion for new trial was filed and denied and the court entered a judgment of guilty and sentence of death.
The testimony and evidence introduced at the trial established that on September 14, 1964, the defendant, Wallace Pleas, inflicted certain gunshot wounds upon both Precious Rollins and Carrie Mae Stinson. The fact of the shooting and that such wounds were the proximate cause of the death of these persons were not in dispute and were admitted by the defendant after they had been originally established by the state’s witnesses.
Six points of error, including one that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict of guilty without recommendation of mercy, are now presented and argued in three points on appeal. We shall resolve all of them.
The appellant argues, first, the propriety of the trial court’s allowing into evidence, over objection of the defendant, certain pictures which he contends were designed and intended solely to prejudice and inflame the jury against the defendant. We have examined the record and find that the photographs were material as corroborating the testimony of the witnesses for the state, and that their admission comes within the rule announced in Leach v. State (Fla.1961), 132 So.2d 329, and cases therein cited.
As a second point on appeal the appellant contends that the instructions of the court concerning the questions of premeditation and heat of passion as reducing the degree of the offense charged were inadequate. We find no merit in this contention. The over-all charges of the trial court fully and ably cover all appropriate and required instructions, and the additional charge requested was correctly denied by the trial judge.
The final question is a blanket assault on the sufficiency of the evidence to support a verdict of guilty without recommendation of mercy. The evidence is abundantly sufficient to support the verdict of guilty. The matter of a “recommendation to mercy” is a matter entirely in the discretion of the jury. Peterson v. State (1941), 145 Fla. 466, 199 So. 753.
We haye carefully examined and thoroughly considered the record in these consolidated cases in the light of the briefs filed and have also, pursuant to Section 924.32, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., and Florida *649Appellate Rule 6.16, 31 F.S.A., reviewed the evidence to determine if the interests of justice require a new trial, with the result that we find no reversible error is made to appear and the evidence is sufficient and does not reveal that the ends of justice require that a new trial be awarded.
Affirmed.
DREW, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.
THORNAL, C. J., dissents because of inadmissibility of photographs.
THOMAS and ERVIN, JJ., dissent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Young v. State, 234 So. 2d 341 (Fla. 1970)…0). . 120 U.S.App.D.C. 69, 344 F. 2d 163 (1964). . See United States v. Armetta, 378 F. 2d 658 (2d Cir. 1967), for a discussion of situations distinguishable from the instant cause. .Calloway v. State, 189 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 1966) ; Pleas v. State, 184 So. 2d 647 (Fla.1966). . Dyken v. State, 89 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 1956). . Pleas v. State, 184 So. 2d 647 (Fla. 1966). .132 So. 2d 329, 331-332 (Fla.1961). . Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 1.310. Time for Challenge. “The state or defendant may challenge an…1 / 2
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Albritton v. State, 221 So. 2d 192 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)…that the photos were inflammatory and such as would arouse to passion is not alone sufficient to warrant their refusal in evidence. Gragg v. State, Fla.App.1965, 177 So. 2d 59; Cullaro v. State, Fla.App.1957, 97 So. 2d 40; Pleas v. State, Fla.1966, 184 So. 2d 647; Calloway v. State, Fla.1966, 189 So. 2d 617. But where admittedly gruesome and reasonably calculated to inflame the minds of the jurors, they can only be admissible by a showing of the prosecution that, not only are the pictures relevant, but also…
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Wright v. State, 250 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971)…that the photos were inflammatory and such as would arouse to passion is not alone sufficient to warrant their refusal in evidence. Gragg v. State, Fla.App.1965, 177 So. 2d 59; Cullaro v. State, Fla.App.1957, 97 So. 2d 40; Pleas v. State, Fla.1966, 184 So. 2d 647; Calloway v. State, Fla.1966, 189 So. 2d 617. But where admittedly gruesome and reasonably calculated to inflame the minds of the jurors, they can only be admissible by a showing of the prosecution that, not only are the pictures relevant, but also…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Leach v. State, 132 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 1961)
- Peterson v. State, 145 Fla. 466 (Fla. 1941)