MACK HARVELL
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Mack Harvell appeals his conviction for assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree, contending the judgment should be reduced to aggravated assault. The Florida Supreme Court affirms the conviction, holding that an unprovoked knife attack causing serious wounds can constitute assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree even without evidence of express premeditation.
The judgment is affirmed. An unprovoked assault with a deadly weapon in a manner imminently dangerous to life, evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, can support a conviction for assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree, even absent evidence that the defendant entertained a premeditated design to kill.
“Intent to kill' in making of'an assault does not necessarily mean that defendant had a premeditated design and fixed purpose to effect death, even for a short time before making the assault, but means that he willfully and unlawfully makes an 'assault with a deadly weapon which he knows, or should know, may reasonably be expected to result in death of person assaulted.”
Establishes that intent to kill does not require express premeditation but only knowledge or reasonable expectation that the assault with a deadly weapon may result in death
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant assaulted Clarence Johnson without provocation on a Pensacola street, grabbing him around the neck, striking his nose, and slashing his back…
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The appellant was informed against under information charging assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree. He was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree.
The record shows that the appellant assaulted one Clarence Johnson, on a street in Pensacola, Florida, without any provocation whatever; that he first grabbed Johnson, about the neck and struck him a blow on the nose. He then, with a knife of some sort, slashed Johnson across the back, inflicting a wound which, is not described in the record except by the statement that it required seven stitches to sew it up, and that Johnson bled about a pint.
It appears from the record that the assault was committed on September 11, 1944; the trial was had on October 12, 1944, at which time the wound had a scab on it at the place where Johnson said the knife was stuck into him and we gather from the record that the remainder of the slash across the back had healed.
It is the contention of counsel for appellant that the judgment should be reduced from guilty of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree to guilty of an aggravated assault.
We think the record shows conclusively that the accused assaulted Clarence Johnson with a deadly weapon in such a manner as to be imminently dangerous to the life of another, evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life; that if the wound had resulted in the death of Johnson the evidence would have amply supported a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree.
*558In the case of Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134, 162 So. 346, we held:
“ ‘Intent to kill’ in making of'an assault does not necessarily mean that defendant had a premeditated design and fixed purpose to effect death, even for a short time before making the assault, but means that he willfully and unlawfully makes an 'assault with a deadly weapon which he knows, or should know, may reasonably be expected to result in death of person assaulted.”
“Where, if assaulted person had died of wounds inflicted, defendant could be held to have committed murder in the second degree, he may properly be convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree if assaulted person does not die of wound so inflicted.” See also Jones v. State, 66 Fla. 79, 62 So. 899, and other cases cited in the Phillips case.
Op authority of the opinions and judgments in such cases, the judgment is affirmed.
So ordered.
CHAPMAN, C. J., TERRELL and ADAMS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Bailey v. State, 224 So. 2d 296 (Fla. 1969)…ted, defendant could be held to have committed murder in the second degree, he may properly be convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree if assaulted person does not die of wound so inflicted.” See also Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556, 20 So. 2d 801 (1945). The crime of murder in the first degree and the crime of assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree are each divisible into degrees, and the trial judge was under a duty to instruct on all degrees, including the…
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Seevola Littles v. State, 384 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)…wit: murder in the second degree, does not exist under Florida law. E. g., Knight v. State, 42 Fla. 546, 28 So. 759 (1900); Pyke v. State, 47 Fla. 93, 36 So. 577 (1904); Feagle v. State, 55 Fla. 13, 46 So. 182 (1908); Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556, 20 So. 2d 801 (Fla.1945); Dallas v. State, 170 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965); Wood v. State, 251 So. 2d 556 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). Since the crime of assault with intent involves specific intent, as does an attempt, the rationale of the aforementioned cases clearly…
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Earnest Dallas v. State, 170 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965)…ve been murder in the second degree, which is a felony. There is nothing in the definition of murder in the second degree to exclude it from the offense of assault with intent to commit a felony as defined by Section 786.04, supra. Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556, 20 So. 2d 801; Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134, 162 So. 346. But see Tillman v. State, 81 Fla. 558, 88 So. 377; McNeal v. Culver, 365 U.S. 109, 81 S.Ct. 413, 5 L.Ed.2d 445. Affirmed. ALLEN, Acting C. J., and WHITE, J., concur.…
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
- Forest Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134 (Fla. 1935)
- In re Advisory Opinion to Governor, 120 Fla. 142 (Fla. 1935)
- Jones v. State, 66 Fla. 79 (Fla. 1913)