Britts v. State
Britts v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appeal brings for review judgment of conviction of assault with intent to commit manslaughter.
Two questions are presented in brief of appellant. We think the ease may properly be disposed of by determination of appellant’s first contention which is:
That appellant was so mentally deranged at the time of the commission of the act which he was charged with committing that he was not criminally responsible for his act.
Two eminent physicians, both specialists in nervous and mental diseases, examined him sometime after this occurrence. They both testified in effect that after the examination, and getting his case history, it was their opinion that at the time of the incident he was suffering from alcoholic hallucinosis and that it was probable that a man would remember all that occurred while suffering those hallucinations up to a certain point where under great excitement he would become amnesic for a period and would remember nothing which happened during that period and yet begin to remember what occurred again after the amnesia had passed away.
All of appellant’s conduct during the period testified about is shown to be consistent with his having been under alcoholic hallucinosis and entirely inconsistent with any other conclusion.
It, therefore, follows that the uncontradicted evidence, now shown to be inherently improbable, leads to the conclusion that the accused was at the time of the alleged assault mentally deranged, or temporarily insane and not criminally responsible for his conduct, although that condition was super-induced by the previous use of alcoholic liquor.
In Baldwin Century Edition of Bouvier’s Law Dictionary we find it said:
“Legal insanity which exonerates from crime or incapacitates from civil action is a mental deficiency with reference to the particular act in question and not a general incapacity.”
The presumption is that every person is sane until evidence is introduced to rebut that presumption.
“The rule we recognize is, that when evidence is introduced which tends to rebut the presumption of sanity on the part of the accused, and the jury entertain a reasonable doubt, after considering all the evidence as to his sanity, it is their duty to acquit.”.
In Thompson v. State, 78 Fla. 400, 83 So. 291, it was said:
“The law, however, presumes that all men are sane, and in the absence of evidence indicating a contrary state of mind both court and jury are justified in acting upon this presumption ; and where the evidence establishes the criminal act, and indicates nothing as to the mental capacity of the accused to commit the deed, a conviction is not only authorized but should be had. If, however, there arises from the evidence coming from any quarter, a reasonable doubt as to the sanity of the accused, the presumption of the law is overcome and he is entitled to an acquittal, unless the State meets and overcomes this reasonable doubt arising in his favor.”
In Blocker v. State, 87 Fla. 128, 99 So. 250, it was said:
“The rule in this jurisdiction is that where from the evidence, whether adduced by the State or the Accused, there arises in the mind of the jury a reasonable doubt of defendant’s sanity at the time of the alleged criminal act, the presumption of sanity is overcome and he should be given the benefit of such doubt and acquitted.”
Upon the question of the weight to be given the testimony of a party to an action or any party directly interested in the event of the trial, there is some difference of opinion. In some cases it is held that the triers of facts, whether court or jury, are not justified in disregarding the uncontradicted testimony of an interested witness. Kelly v. Jones, 290 Ill. 375, 125 N.E. 334; Miller’s Will 49 Ore. 452, 90 Pac. 1002. In affirming a judgment in favor of the defendants in a Wisconsin case tried by the court without a jury, the court, referring to the testimony of the defendants, said as to their interest:
“It is hardly necessary for us to remark that no court of jury would set aside or wholly ignore their testimony on this ground. If they are competent to testify at all to the facts,*844 the very law authorizing it implies that under such circumstances some faith and credit are to be given to their state-ments. No court or jury are authorized to say: ‘These parties are interested and, therefore, without considering any other fact or circumstance, we will discredit them.’ Daniels v. Foster, 26 Wisc. 686.”
In Engmann v. Immel, 59 Wis. 249, 18 N.W. 182, it was held that the court properly charged the jury as to the testimony of the plaintiff’s attorney:
“You have heard the testimony of Mr. Frisby about the note as to the genuineness of the signature. His testimony is uncontradicted, and unless there is something in the case which casts discredit on his testimony, you are bound to accept it as true.”
In the case of Ironside v. Ironside, 188 Okla. 267, 108 P. (2) 157, it was stated as follows:
“Undisputed credit testimony not inherently improbable is generally binding on a court or jury, but evidence is not regarded as undisputed if it is at variance with the facts and circumstances of the case or reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom.”
See also Crockett v. State, 137 Fla. 450, 188 So. 214, and Holton v. State, 87 Fla. 65, 99 So. 244, wherein we said:
“The circumstances relied upon by the State to contradict the defendant’s story are not so conclusive of the falsity of that story as to have warranted the conviction. If they had been sufficient to overcome defendant’s story and refute it in detail it would have left the defendant with nothing to stand on but a practical confession of murder in the first degree; but the jury evidently was not satisfied with the sufficiency of the evidence offered by the State to justify a verdict of murder in the first degree.”
In Flowers et al. v. State, 106 Fla. 686, 143 So. 612, we held:
“It is the province of a jury to reconcile conflicting evidence but where there is no conflict in the evidence a jury is not authorized to disregard the direct and ^positive evidence which shows that the defendants are not guilty of the offense charged.”
So it is, while we are reluctant to reverse the judgment based on the verdict of a jury, and especially so in cases where the alleged assault has been made upon an officer of the law, we are impelled to hold that the record in this case shows beyond any reasonable question that the appellant was not legally responsible for his acts at the time the assault was committed.
Therefore, the judgment should be, and is, reversed.
So ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JOSEPH EDWARD BRITTS v. STATE OF FLORIDA
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- Published