SANDERS
v.
STATE

Fla. | 1954-01-08
ROBERTS, C. J., THOMAS, SE-BRING, MATHEWS and DREW, JJ., and PATTERSON, Associate 'Justice, concur.
70 So. 2d 369 Florida Supreme Court (1954) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

D.L. Sanders was convicted of manslaughter after a first trial resulted in mistrial on a murder in the first degree charge. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and 12-year sentence, rejecting arguments that the evidence permitted only a murder or justifiable homicide verdict, that the trial court erred in jury instructions, that an improper juror was seated, and that outdated jury list statutes were applied.


Holding

The court held that: (1) a murder in the first degree charge comprehends lesser degrees of homicide and the jury was warranted in returning a verdict of manslaughter given the probative force of the evidence; (2) the requested charge was fully covered in the general charge and no proper assignment of error was made; (3) the record did not show the challenged juror question was ever posed or that the juror had an uncle killed in a gun battle; and (4) Chapter 40 of the 1951 Florida Statutes is the governing law for jury list preparation and no harmful error resulted to the defendant.


Key Quotes

“Such a charge comprehends all other degrees of homicide. The jury was warranted in returning a verdict for one of the lesser degrees of homicide.”

Establishes that a murder in the first degree charge allows the jury to return a conviction for lesser included offenses like manslaughter

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Facts & Procedural History

Sanders was indicted and tried for murder in the first degree. The first trial resulted in a mistrial. At the second trial, Sanders was convicted of m…

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Opinion of the Court
TERRELL, Justice.

TERRELL, Justice.

D. L. Sanders was indicted and tried for murder in the first degree. There was a mistrial and the second trial resulted in a conviction of manslaughter. A new trial was denied, defendant was sentenced to twelve years in the state penitentiary and has appealed from that judgment. There was a motion to quash the jury panel and a motion to strike, which will be treated later. It is first contended that the conviction of manslaughter should be reversed because the evidence and the law as charged by the court permitted no verdict .other than murder in the first degree or justifiable homicide.

Dennis v. State, 17 Fla. 389, is relied on to support this contention but we do not think it relevant to the case at bar. It involved a charge of perjury, there was no evidence offered by defendant and the court found that the evidence presented by the State proved defendant to be innocent. In this case appellant was charged with murder in the first degree. Such a charge comprehends all other degrees of homicide. The jury was warranted in returning a verdict for one of the lesser degrees of homicide.

It is true that the jury should conform its verdict to the evidence and the law of the case, as charged by the court, but this principle is controlled by the credibility and probative force of the evidence which is for determination of the jury. We find it unnecessary to discuss the evidence except to say that it was not only ample to support a verdict of manslaughter, but would have supported a much higher degree of homicide. Likewise we find nothing wrong with the charge of the court. It correctly defined the different degrees of homicide and was not contrary to the governing law.

It is next contended that the court committed error in refusing defendant’s requested charge 32, with reference to who provoked the first assault. There is no merit to this contention. In the first place the requested charge was fully covered in the general charge and then we find no showing in the record of an assignment on the court’s refusal to give the charge.

It is next contended that the trial court committed error in permitting one of the jurors to remain on the panel who returned a negative answer to the question: “Has any member of your family ever been involved in a gun fight?”

The alleged vice of this question consisted in the fact that said juror’s uncle had been killed as a result of a pistol wound. The record does not reveal' tha’t any such question was ever propounded to the juror! It does appear that the question was raised in the motion for new trial,which was unverified. The affidavits and the face of the motion are insufficient to show that the juror ever had an uncle killed in a gun battle. The record reveals no merit to this contention.

The only other question presented has to do with whether or not the court committed error in holding that in law the County Commissioners were required to make up the jury list as required ¡by Chap ter 40, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A. instead of Chapters 14696 and 14698, Acts of 1931.

Not much need be said in, response to this question.' The motions to quash were predicated on failure to use the acts of 1931 in making up the jury lists. Chapter 40, Florida Statutes of 1951, F.S.A., is a complete revision of the law regulating the drawing and selection-of jury lists and is the governing law on the subject. It is not suggested or intimated that harmful error or miscarriage of justice resulted to defendant. -

Other questions raised have been. considered but we find no reversible error so the -judgmfent appealed from is affirmed.

Affirmed.

ROBERTS, C. J., THOMAS, SE-BRING, MATHEWS and DREW, JJ., and PATTERSON, Associate 'Justice, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Stewart v. State, 187 So. 2d 358 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)
    …n any event the accused may not be convicted of a lesser offense which is not established by the evidence.” This rule was inferentially recognized by the Florida appellate courts in Holliday v. State, 104 So. 2d 137 (Fla.App.1958), Sanders v. State, 70 So. 2d 369 (Fla.1954), and Allison v. State, 162 So. 2d 922 (Fla.App.1964). Applying the foregoing two fundamental rules concerning lesser included offenses to the case at bar, we find no difficulty in reaching the view that the misdemeanor of using a vehicle…
  • Washington v. State, 247 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971)
    …than the rape with which he was charged. The verdict of guilty for a lesser offense is not supported by the evidence and cannot be sustained on appeal. The subject of lesser included offenses is not a new one in this jurisdiction. Sanders v. State, 70 So. 2d 369 (Fla.1954), involved a defendant indicted and tried for murder in the first degree. The Supreme Court, in affirming the conviction of manslaughter, stated: “Such a charge comprehends all other degrees of homicide. The jury was warranted in returning…

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