Pittman v. State
Pittman v. State
Opinion of the Court
The appellant was convicted of "intent to commit murder"; theft of property in the first degree, in violation of §
A review of the record indicates that the undisclosed evidence was not exculpatory (i.e., it revealed only that the appellant did, in fact, have a flat tire and it shed no light on the offenses allegedly committed by the appellant). Therefore the evidence was not "material," as defined byUnited States v. Agurs,
"Q [Prosecutor]: You read that to the defendant?
"A [Officer]: Yes, it was read to him, yes, sir.
"Q And did he indicate to you that he understood it?
"A The best of my recollection, he didn't indicate one way or the other whether he understood it. He said he wanted to speak to his attorney before he made any statements."
The record indicates that after the appellant objected and moved for a mistrial, the trial judge gave the following curative instruction:
"The purpose for questioning the officer about the document regarding Miranda warning or reading the Miranda rights to the defendant is submitted to you for only this purpose, the fact that he was advised of his rights and for the time it was done, which was three something. You will recall what that was. It is not submitted to you for any other purpose. Now, in the response that the officer made, he responded in the sense in that he added the expression that he refused and said he wanted an attorney present.
"Now my question to you is that, and this is to each one of you, that is not to be considered by you as any evidence, that response that he declined to sign or that he asked for an attorney. That is not for you to consider. It is not evidence in this case; and the only evidence that you will take from that document, as I said, is the time and the fact that he was, if you find it to be a fact, that he was advised of his rights, of Miranda."
Subsequent thereto, the trial judge polled the jurors and determined that all jurors indicated that they could disregard the testimony. Thus, no error occurred here. Beadnell v. State,
As evidenced by the indictment, the appellant was charged with attempted murder. §
Although "intent" to commit a crime is a necessary element within any *Page 353 "attempt" statute, it is not, in and of itself, a crime to possess intent; hence, the court was without jurisdiction to pronounce judgment on the verdict finding the defendant guilty of "intent to commit murder." Accordingly, the trial court's judgment on the "intent to commit murder" conviction is null and void and will not support an appeal.
AFFIRMED AS TO CONVICTIONS FOR THEFT OF PROPERTY, ROBBERY, AND KIDNAPPING; REVERSED AND JUDGMENT RENDERED FOR THE APPELLANT AS TO CONVICTION FOR "INTENT TO COMMIT MURDER."
All Judges concur.
MONTIEL, J., dissents with opinion.
Dissenting Opinion
I respectfully dissent from that part of the majority's opinion which reverses and renders the appellant's conviction for attempted murder. The trial court correctly charged the jury on the elements of attempted murder but made a typographical error on the verdict form by using the word "intent" instead of the word "attempt." The trial court corrected the error in its notation on the Case Action Summary Sheet, and I disagree with the majority's opinion to reverse and render the jury verdict of guilty upon which the court entered the proper judgment.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James Earl Pittman v. State.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published