Crawford v. State

Decision Date22 April 1941
Citation146 Fla. 729,1 So.2d 713
PartiesCRAWFORD v. STATE.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Appeal form Circuit Court, Duval County; DeWitt T. Gray judge.

P. Guy Crews, of Jacksonville, for appellant.

J. Tom Watson, Atty. Gen., and Nathan Cockrell, Asst. Atty. Gen for appellee.

BUFORD, Justice.

On being convicted of the offense of murder in the first degree, defendant appeals to this Court and presents two questions for our consideration, viz.:

'Does the testimony and evidence when considered as a whole prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant had any premeditated design to affect the death of Bronson Sweat or any other human being at the time of the alleged homidide?'

'2. 'Did the trial jury entirely disregard the Court's charge as to the defendant's right to protect himself after the deceased Bronson Sweat had made threats against the life of the defendant, and threats were heard by the defendant as well as communicated by other witnesses?'

The record discloses that from the evidence submitted the jury was warranted in concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused became enraged because deceased had assumed to have some association with a woman with whom accused was living that just preceding the homicide accused had an altercation with the woman in which he took a large knife (which belonged to deceased) from her and in the altercation cut her slightly on the hand with the knife. That accused then almost immediately went out on the porch of the house in which all parties lived and there found deceased sitting quietly and unarmed in the rocking chair talking to witness Gadsden. That accused made some remark to deceased which Gadsden did not understand. That deceased only said 'huh', whereupon accused assaulted deceased, who was still sitting in the chair, and then and there inflicted a mortal wound of which deceased soon thereafter died. The wound is described by the examining physician as follows:

'There was one wound on the body. It was a stab--on the body and the head--there was a stab, one inch long, by a sharp instrument went into the back or edge of the eyebrow, or about where I am pointing (indicating); and went into the inside of the head, through the bone into brain, and penetrated the brain some two or two and one- half inches, and cut some blood vessels; caused a large hemorrhage to go over the whole head and, I suppose, in the brain, and went on.'

We see in the record nothing lacking to prove the essential elements of murder in the first degree.

In Ryan v. State, 83 Fla. 610, 92 So. 571, 572, we said:

'The character of the homicide and the element of premeditation may be proved by circumstantial evidence; the jury being privileged to infer the existence of premeditation and the unlawful character of the homicide from the evidence submitted as they may infer the existence of any other material element in a criminal charge. See Lovett v. State, 30 Fla. 142 11 So. 550, 17 L.R.A. 705; Barnhill v. State, 56 Fla. 16, 48 So. 251; Keigans v. State, 52 Fla. 57, 41 So. 886; Miller v. State, 75...

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9 cases
  • Dawson v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 23 March 1962
    ...just as other inferences of fact may be drawn by the jury. Parker v. State, 1940, 142 Fla. 210, 194 So. 484; Crawford v. State, 1941, 146 Fla. 729, 1 So.2d 713; Robinson v. State, 1941, 148 Fla. 153, 3 So.2d In this case we think the circumstances were more than adequate to support an infer......
  • Snipes v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 10 March 1944
    ... ... can be or may be established by direct or circumstantial ... evidence to be considered and determined by the jury from all ... the evidence adduced, under appropriate instructions on the ... part of the trial court. See Robinson v. State, 148 ... Fla. 153, 3 So.2d 804; Crawford v. State, 146 Fla ... 729, 1 So.2d 713. Whether or not the State, during the ... progress of the trial, carried the burden of proof cast upon ... it by law, must be determined by an examination of the ... testimony appearing in the record on the controverted point ... We failed to ... ...
  • Collins v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 7 November 1944
    ...can serve no useful purpose. It is sufficient to say that the evidence when measured by rules enunciated in the cases of Crawford v. State, 146 Fla. 729, 1 So.2d 713; Padgett v. State, 121 Fla. 42, 163 So. Hasty v. State, 120 Fla. 269, 162 So. 910; Davis v. State, 138 Fla. 798, 190 So. 259 ......
  • Pinkney v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 13 June 1962
    ...impossible to prove by direct testimony but may be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the death of a party. See Crawford v. State, 146 Fla. 729, 1 So.2d 713; Ryan v. State, 83 Fla. 610, 92 So. 571; Forehand v. State, 126 Fla. 464, 171 So. 241; Mayo v. State, Fla., 71 So.2d 899; Low......
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