Gaff v. State
| Decision Date | 23 November 1931 |
| Citation | 138 So. 48,103 Fla. 642 |
| Parties | GAFF v. STATE. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Error to Circuit Court, Calhoun County; Amos Lewis, Judge.
J. A Gaff was convicted of manslaughter, and he brings error.
Affirmed.
COUNSEL H. V. McClellan, of Blountstown, for plaintiff in error.
Cary D Landis, Atty. Gen., and Roy Campbell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
In this case the plaintiff in error was convicted of manslaughter on indictment charging murder in the first degree.
There were three assignments of error. The first two were addressed to the action of the court in refusing certain charges requested quested by the defendant at the trial. The charges refused did not properly state the law in regard to the right of self-defense and therefore should have been refused, but aside from this, the law sought to be given to the jury by these charges was fully and correctly stated by the court in its general charge. A person, to be entitled to the benefits of the law of self-defense, must be free from fault and not the aggressor in the difficulty. Neither of the requested charges mentioned this necessary element.
The third assignment of error questions the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict.
There was ample substantial evidence as disclosed by the record to have sustained a verdict for a higher degree of unlawful homicide than that of manslaughter. It is true there are conflicts in the testimony, but it is the province of the jury to either reconcile these conflicts, or, failing to do so, to say who was or who was not speaking the truth. The jury resolved the conflicts to some extent against the defendant.
The judgment should be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.
While concurring in the conclusion of the court that no error appears in the ruling of the trial court, or in the charge to the jury, or in the refusal to give certain charges requested by the defendant, and that the judgment should be affirmed, I cannot concur in the statement that there was ample substantial evidence disclosed by the record to have sustained a verdict for a higher degree of unlawful homicide than that of manslaughter. While the evidence was in conflict, and the question was one for the...
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Crum v. State, 64-428
...shaking her and therefore, having been the instigator of the altercation, is not in a position to urge self defense. See: Gaff v. State, 103 Fla. 642, 138 So. 48; Mixon v. State, Fla.1952, 59 So.2d 38. In examining a record to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support a verdict o......
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