State v. Martin
State v. Martin
Opinion of the Court
The defendant, Wear Martin, was tried on an information filed by the district attorney, charging him with shooting with intent to kill and murder one Miss Arcadia Hester. He was convicted of shooting with intent to kill, was sentenced to hard labor for not less than 18 months and not more than 2 years, and prosecutes this appeal. He relies for reversal of his conviction and sentence on two bills of exception: (1) The overruling of a motion for a new trial; and (2) the refusal of the court to sustain a motion in arrest of judgment.
“Did willfully, maliciously and feloniously shoot one Arcadia Hester with a dangerous weapon, to wit, a pistol, with the intent to kill and murder her, the said Arcadia Hester.”
The crime with which the accused was .charged, is purely statutory and in all such offenses it is sufficient for the indictment to follow the language of the statute. The information in this case meets that requirement, and it was not necessary under the statute to qualify the shooting nor the intent, with the words “malice aforethought,” where such shooting is charged to have been done, “wilfully, maliciously and feloniously.” Such an indictment was held legally sufficient in the case of State v. Hopkins, 115 La. 786, 40 South. 166.
It is therefore ordered and decreed that the conviction, sentence, 'and judgment against the defendant are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE v. MARTIN
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- 6 cases
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- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) 1. Criminal law l 156(3) — Discretion on motion for new trial for new evidence not disturbed unless clearly exercised arbitrarily. Motions for new trials for newly discovered evidence rest within the sound discretion of the trial judge, and such discretion, even to the extent of refusing to believe the affidavit of the alleged newly discovered witness, will not be interfered with on appeal unless it clearly appears to have been exercised in an arbitrary or unjust manner. 2. Criminal law It was a proper exercise of the trial judge’s discretion to refuse a motion for a new trial for newly discovered evidence where it rested solely on accused’s affidavit, and there was no proof that the newly discovered witnesses could be produced, or, if produced, that they would swear to the facts set forth in the motion. 3. Indictment and information &wkey;>l 10(17) — Information in language of statute for shooting with intent to kill not insufficient because not alleging shooting was with malice aforethought. Where information for shooting with intent to kill followed the language of the statute, and charged that the shooting was done willfully, maliciously, and feloniously, it was sufficient, though it did not allege that the shooting was with malice aforethought.