Madison v. State, (1939)
Court: Supreme Court of Florida
Number:
Visitors: 12
Judges: BUFORD, J.
Attorneys: John J. Moore, for Plaintiff in Error;
George Couper Gibbs, Attorney General, and Thomas J. Ellis,
Assistant Attorney General, for Defendant in Error.
Filed: Jun. 06, 1939
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: Writ of error brings for review judgment *Page 469 of conviction of murder in the first degree and sentence to death by electrocution. Plaintiff in error presents five (5) questions for our consideration, which are as follows: "First. Is there any evidence contained in the record which shows a sufficient premeditated design to kill to authorize a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree " "Second. When a man is on trial for his life and has but one witness for his defense and this witness
Summary: Writ of error brings for review judgment *Page 469 of conviction of murder in the first degree and sentence to death by electrocution. Plaintiff in error presents five (5) questions for our consideration, which are as follows: "First. Is there any evidence contained in the record which shows a sufficient premeditated design to kill to authorize a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree " "Second. When a man is on trial for his life and has but one witness for his defense and this witness ..
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I agree with the opinion of Mr. Justice BUFORD that no errors were committed in the trial of this case, but I am not so sure as to the ruling on the motion for new trial, one of the grounds of which was that there was not sufficient evidence to show a premeditated design to kill. The defendant testified that the deceased attacked him with a knife and cut him in the arm and on the wrist before he cut the deceased. The State's testimony shows that defendant had a knife wound through the fleshy part of the arm and a slight knife wound in the back of the wrist or hand. This testimony of the State's physician — witness in this regard — tended to corroborate the testimony of the defendant and was not explained away by any other evidence. Taking the evidence as a whole, I do not think it sufficient to support a death-penalty verdict.
Source: CourtListener
