Buie v. State
Buie v. State
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs in error were found and adjudged to be “guilty of murder in the second degree as charged in the second count,” which second count of the indictment is as follows:
“And the Grand Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do further present that Anita Buie late of the County of Citrus aforesaid did unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of one Will Jack
And so the said Anita Buie did in manner and form aforesaid unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of the said Will Jackson, kill and murder the said Will Jackson.
That Judge D. Ruffian late of the County of Citrus aforesaid in the Circuit and State aforesaid laborer on the said 22nd day of January, 1914, in the county and State aforesaid with force and arms at and in the County of Citrus aforesaid, did unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of the said Will Jackson was present aiding, abetting, assisting, counseling and advising the said Anita Buie the aforesaid felony to do and commit.”
The first count charges murder in the first degree against both parties in that it alleges that the two defendants on the 22nd day of January, 1914, in Citrus County, Florida,” did unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of Will Jackson, fatally shoot him from which he died. On writ of error it is . contended that the motion in arrest of judgment was erroneously overruled because the second count on which the conviction was had does not state the time or
The contention that error appears in the failure of the record proper to show that the case Avas submitted to the jury in the presence of the defendants cannot avail. The bill of exceptions states that the judge “submitted the said issues and the evidence so given to the jury,” after the defendants had testified with nothing to indi
Error is assigned on tl;e use of the word “should” in a charge given that “In considering the testimony you should consider the stand-point from which a witness testifies, his or her interest in the determination of the suit,” &c. The charge did not refer to any particular witness. If the use of the word “should” instead of “may” or other permissive expression, can be prejudicial to a defendant in any case, its use could not reasonably have been harmful under the circumstances of this case.
There is ample evidence to sustain the verdict, and the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Anita Buie and Judge D. Ruffian, in Error v. The State of Florida, in Error
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. One count of an indictment may by apt expressions -refer to a previous count for specifications of time and place when the data referred to are not repugnant to the count in which the reference is made and the reference cannot reasonably be harmful to the accused. 2. In an indictment for murder an allegation that the accused did “unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of the said J., shot off and discharged at and upon the said J., thereby and by thus striking the said J. with lead,” etc., sufficiently alleges the efficient cause of the death to have been done unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect death. 3. The provision of Section 3178, General Statutes of 1906, that whoever aids in the commission of a felony, or is accessory • thereto, before the fact, by counseling, hiring or otherwise procuring such felony to be committed, shall be punished in the same manner prescribed for the punishment of the principal felon, in effect makes an accessory before the fact a principal. 4. In view of Section 3178, General Statutes of 1906, a verdict finding both defendants guilty of murder in the second degree where one is charged as principal and the other as ac- • cessory before the fact of murder in the first degree, is not material or harmful error. 5. Where the hill of exceptions shows the cause was submitted to the jury after the defendants had testified, and there is nothing to indicate the contrary, it will be assumed that the defendants were present when the ease was submitted to the jury. U. Evidence that a homicide was committed “about the last of February,” is sufficient when, taken with other testimony, it is apparent that the current year was meant. 7. Where no reference is made to any particular witness, if the use of the word “should” instead of “may” or other permissive expression in a charge that “in considering the testimony you should consider the standpoint from which a witness testifies, his or her interest,” etc., can be prejudicial in any case, it could not reasonably have been harmful in this case.