Lang v. State
Lang v. State
Opinion of the Court
The following indictment was presented against the plaintiff in error, vis: In the, name and by the authority of the State of Florida. The grand jurors, of the State of Florida, empanelled and sworn to enquire and true presentment make, in and for the body of the county of Nassau, upon their oaths do present that S. R.
Motions in arrest of judgment and for a new trial were made and overruled by the court. The one in arrest of judgment was upon the ground that no' true bill was found on the said indictment or could have been found as is manifest on the face of the indictment. The overruling of this motion is the first error assigned.
An indictment is defined as “a written accusation against one or more persons of a crime or misdemean- or presented to and preferred upon oath or affirmation by a grand jury legally convoked.” “An accusation at the suit of the Crown found to be true by the oaths of a grand jury.” 1 Bouv. Law Dictionary, Rawle’s Revision page 1018. The record evidence in this case is that the indictment was found to be a true bill by a grand jury in a court having jurisdiction of the subject-
It is further contended that the indictment should not be sustained, as it appeared from the, proof introduced in the case that the grand jury could have ascertained the character of the money stolen, and given a more perfect description of it in the indictment. Whether the allegation of the watít of knowledge on the part of the grand jury is traversable or subject to enquiry need not be considered in this casé, as there was no evidence that the grand jury knew the character or denomination ot the money alleged to have been stolen. Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 126 Mass. 54.
The court refused to give the following instruction requested by tihe accused: “that the jury have no right to disregard the testimony of the defendant Lang on the ground alone that he is the defendant, and stands charged with the commission of a crime. The law presumes the defendant innocent until he is proven guilty; and the law allows him to testify in his own behalf, and the jury should fairly and impartially consider his testimony, together with all the other evidence in the case,
We are of the opinion that it is not the province of the trial court by any arbitrary standard to direct the jury thereby to weigh the testimony of any witness, and in this respect the- charge requested' w-as objectionable. The jury should never capriciously reject the testimony of a witness in the case, but in considering conflicting testimony they have the right to disbelieve any witness, whether a party to the record or not. Glover v. State, 22 Fla. 493; Allen v. State, supra.
Various other assignments of error are based up-on the view that the verdict was contrary to specified portions of the charge given to the jury, and also- w'as not sustained by the evidence. There was no direction for
The property described in, the indictment is one hundred dollars, of the currency of the United States, of America, and the close point on the evidence is whether it show's the taking of sufficient quantity of the character of money described to amount to grand larceny. Our statute on, the subject of larceny already referred to, as amended, provides, that if the property stolen is of the value of twenty dollars or more the; offence shall he grand larceny, and the punishment shall be imprisonment in the State penitentiary not exceeding five years, or in the county jail not exceeding twelve months or fine not exceeding one thousand dollars; and if the value be less than twenty dollars the offence, shall be petit larceny, and the punishment confinement in the county jail not exceeding three months., or fine not exceeding' one hundred dollars. Under this, statute the testimony should show property of sufficient value- to sustain the sentence imposed. Whitehead v. State, 20 Fla. 841. In identifying the property alleged to- have been stolen the evidence must substantially correspond with the description in the indictment, in. order to- sustain the verdict. Glover v. State, 22 Fla. 493; Hart v. State, 55 Ind. 599; Hamilton v. State, 60 Ind. 193 S. C. 28 Am. Rep. 653; State v. Jackson 30 Maine 29; Reg. v. Bond, 4 Cox’s Cr. Cas. 231. In case of money stolen it is apparent that in the very nature of the case in many instances it would be unreasonable to insist on any great degree of particularity in the description of the property. It would not be necessary for the witness to use the exact terms employed in describing the proper
Reference
- Full Case Name
- S. R. Lang, in Error v. The State of Florida, in Error
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. An indictment for larceny under Section 2440, Revised Statutes, in proper form and found to be a true bill by a grand jury in a court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, properly signed, endorsed and presented as required by statute, and describing the property alleged to have been stolen as one hundred dollars, of the currency of the United States of America, the denomination of which was to the grand jurors unknown, of the property of a named person, is not so defective in reference to the description of the property as to amount to- no indictment. 2. In criminal pleading the omission to state some matters of description, not essential constituents of an offence, but which are required to be stated if known, may be excused by an allegation that they were unknown to the indicting grand jury, and this rule applies to the description of property in indictments for larceny. 3. Whether the allegation in an indictment for larceny of a want of more perfect knowledge of the description of the property alleged to have been stolen is subject to enquiry before the trial jury, need not be considered in a case where there is no evidence that the grand jury was in possession of information that would enable them to give a better description. 4. The trial court should not by any arbitrary standard direct the jury thereby to weigh and estimate the testimony of a defendant who takes the stand as a witness. 5. A’ request to charge on behalf of a defendant who. testifies in his defence that the jury have no right to disregard his testimony on the ground alone that he is the defendant in the case, is properly refused, especially where the court instructs the jury fully as to how they should weigh the testimony of witnesses generally. 6; In an indictment for grand larceny under a statute providing that if the property stolen is of the value of twenty dollars or more the offence shall be grand larceny, and if the value is less than twenty dollars, the offence shall be petit larceny, with punishments graduated to each_ offence, the testimony should show property stolen of sufficient value to sustain the sentence imposed by the court. 7. In identifying the property alleged to have been stolen the evidence must substantially correspond with the description given in the indictment, but this may be done by circumstantial as well as direct proof. 8. Evidence held sufficient to sustain a verdict.