Craft v. State
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Florida |
| Writing for the Court | TAYLOR, C.J. |
| Citation | 42 Fla. 567,29 So. 418 |
| Decision Date | 23 October 1900 |
| Parties | CRAFT v. STATE. |
29 So. 418
42 Fla. 567
CRAFT
v.
STATE.
Florida Supreme Court
October 23, 1900
Error to circuit court, Baker county; Rhydon M. Call, Judge.
William Craft was convicted of perjury, and brings error. Reversed.
See 28 So. 761.
Syllabus by the Court
SYLLABUS
1. An investigation by a grand jury of a crime that is within its jurisdiction to investigate and to indict for is a judicial proceeding in a court of justice, and perjury committed before them in such an investigation falls within that phase of the crime provided for by section 2561 of the Florida Revised Statutes.
2. In an indictment for perjury it is an essential allegation that the party charged was duly sworn, and that the oath was administered to him by some one authorized by law to administer such oath.
COUNSEL [42 Fla. 568] Leonidas E. Wade, for plaintiff in error.
William B. Lamar, Atty. Gen., for the State.
OPINION
TAYLOR, C.J.
The plaintiff in error, hereinafter called the 'defendant,' was indicted for perjury at the fall term, 1899, of the circuit court for Baker county; was tried, convicted, and sentenced therefor at the spring term, 1900, of said court, and took writ of error.
The sixth assignment of error is the overruling of the defendant's motion in arrest of judgment. This motion was upon the following [29 So. 419] grounds: (1) The indictment does not charge an offense under the laws of Florida.
(2) The indictment purports to charge a crime, to wit, of perjury, committed in a judicial proceeding, and then and therein recites that the false oath (if taken at all) was taken before the grand jury of said county, and was not committed before the court on trial of indictment or information before a court.
(3) The crimes, as appears in the laws of Florida, in sections 2560, 2561, Rev. St., are separate and distinct offenses, and cannot be blended together. A person cannot be convicted on an indictment found for perjury in a judicial proceeding, when the false oath was taken before the grand jury of the county. The grand jury is no judicial body, and cannot hear and determine nor settle a matter judicially.
The indictment assailed by this motion is as follows:
'In Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit [42 Fla. 569] of Florida, Baker County, Fall Term, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Nine
'State of Florida vs. William Craft. Indictment for Perjury.
'In the name and by virtue of the state of Florida:
'The grand jurors of the state of Florida, impaneled and sworn to inquire and true presentments make in and for the body of the county of Baker, upon their oath do present that one William Craft, late of the...
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Grand Jury Investigation, In re, Nos. 43644 and 43649
...in or before any court? Answer: yes. As long ago as 1900, this Court, in defining the nature of a grand jury proceeding in Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418, 419, 'We think that an investigation of a crime by a Grand jury that is within its jurisdiction to investigate and to indict fo......
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Gordon v. State
...jury investigation is a judicial proceeding which will support a charge of perjury if the other elements are present. Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418; Rivers v. State, 121 Fla. 887, 164 So. 544; Tindall v. State, One of the principal points assigned by the appellants for reversal of......
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Markey v. State
...competent tribunal, person, or officer lawfully constituted, elected, or appointed. 22 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2d. Ed.) 683; Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418; 1 Hawkins' Pleas of the Crown, 431; 2 Bishop's Crim. Law, § 1020. In the case of State ex rel. Ross v. Call, 39 Fla. 504, 22 So......
-
Tindall v. State
...a judicial proceeding, coming within the provision of section 7477, Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927. In the case of Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418, it was held that under our judicial system a grand jury is an appendage or adjunct to the circuit court, and that an investigat......
-
Grand Jury Investigation, In re, Nos. 43644 and 43649
...in or before any court? Answer: yes. As long ago as 1900, this Court, in defining the nature of a grand jury proceeding in Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418, 419, 'We think that an investigation of a crime by a Grand jury that is within its jurisdiction to investigate and to indict fo......
-
Gordon v. State
...jury investigation is a judicial proceeding which will support a charge of perjury if the other elements are present. Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418; Rivers v. State, 121 Fla. 887, 164 So. 544; Tindall v. State, One of the principal points assigned by the appellants for reversal of......
-
Markey v. State
...competent tribunal, person, or officer lawfully constituted, elected, or appointed. 22 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2d. Ed.) 683; Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418; 1 Hawkins' Pleas of the Crown, 431; 2 Bishop's Crim. Law, § 1020. In the case of State ex rel. Ross v. Call, 39 Fla. 504, 22 So......
-
Tindall v. State
...a judicial proceeding, coming within the provision of section 7477, Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927. In the case of Craft v. State, 42 Fla. 567, 29 So. 418, it was held that under our judicial system a grand jury is an appendage or adjunct to the circuit court, and that an investigat......