Hall v. State
| Decision Date | 10 July 1953 |
| Citation | 66 So.2d 863 |
| Parties | HALL v. STATE (two cases). |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Scofield & Bradshaw and D. J. Bradshaw, Inverness, for appellant.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen. and Bart L. Cohen, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Appellant was charged in two informations with the commission of separate larcenies of cattle. He entered pleas of not guilty. Trial was had and he was convicted on both charges. On the day of trial the State moved to consolidate the two cases. The motion was granted, order of consolidation entered, and the trial proceeded on both informations. No objection was made by the defendant. While the motion and order refer to the proceeding as consolidating the two cases, in reality they were consolidated only for the purpose of trial. This appears because a separate verdict was rendered and a separate judgment entered in each case.
Among errors assigned is the order of consolidation. This Court in civil cases has approved the action of the trial Court in ordering the consolidation of cases for trial where the causes are of the same general nature and arise out of the same event or transaction and involve the same or like issues and depend largely on the same evidence and where no prejudice or injury to the parties appears. Kight v. American Eagle Fire Ins. Co. of New York, 125 Fla. 608, 170 So. 664. Counsel has not referred us to any decision of this Court concerning the consolidation for trial of criminal causes. We think that it is within the sound discretion of the trial Court to order consolidation for trial or try together two or more informations involving similar or connected offenses and no prejudice or injury to defendant is made to appear. Especially is this true where no objection is made. Lucas v. State, 144 Ala. 63, 39 So. 821, 3 L.R.A.,N.S., 412; Brown v. State, 236 Ala. 423, 183 So. 412; Brown v. State, 236 Ala. 426, 183 So. 414; 23 C.J.S., Criminal Law, § 931, page 209. Here both larcenies were committed the same day in the same general vicinity; they involved the same issues and depended substantially on the same evidence; and transportation of the cattle was accomplished in one motor truck on the night of the taking. The same witnesses were used in the trial of both cases. The only material difference in the two cases is that ownership of the animals described in one information was vested in one person and ownership of the rest of them described in the other information was vested in another person. Some of the cattle were taken from one pasture and some from another. An examination of the record discloses that defendant was in no wise prejudiced or injured in the defense or trial of either of the cases. We find no error resulting from the order of consolidation.
Defendant further contends that there was only one crime committed and reliance for this...
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Bundy v. State, 57772
...the nature of the crimes, and the manner in which they were committed. See Ashley v. State, 265 So.2d 685 (Fla.1972); Hall v. State, 66 So.2d 863 (Fla.1953), cert. denied, 346 U.S. 931, 74 S.Ct. 321, 98 L.Ed. 422 (1954). Here the crimes occurred within a few blocks of each other and within ......
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State v. Mitter
...for trial. Other courts have done so in the absence of Rules of Criminal Procedure or procedural statutes. See, e.g., Hall v. State, 66 So.2d 863 (Fla.1953); Wilson v. State, 245 Ga. 49, 262 S.E.2d 810 (1980); State v. Collins, 204 Kan. 55, 460 P.2d 573 (1969); Williams v. State, 214 Md. 14......
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Dyson v. State
...thefts, and a lapse of time between incidents, supported the finding of separate larcenies. 252 N.W.2d at 453. See also Hall v. State, 66 So.2d 863, 864 (Fla.1953) (separate larcenies when defendant stole cattle from different owners and from different pastures, on the same day and in the s......
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State v. Rowell
...the thefts may all have been committed in rapid succession, and in pursuance of a formed design to steal. Similarly, in Hall v. State, 66 So.2d 863, 864 (Fla.1953), cert. denied, 346 U.S. 931, 74 S.Ct. 321, 98 L.Ed. 422 (1954), the Florida Supreme Court held that "the taking of articles bel......