Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 21 August 1951 |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
| Parties | SMITH et al. v. STATE. |
Meginniss, Thompson & Morrison, Ben A. Meginniss, Ford L. Thompson, and Harry Morrison, Tallahassee, for appellants.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Phillip Goldman, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The County Solicitor of Polk County, on May 15, 1950, filed in the Criminal Court of Record an information against C. M. Smith, Charlie Lamb and Alfred Lamb. The information contained eight counts and charged the defendants-appellants with crimes viz.: (1) accessory after the fact to grand embezzlement; (2) accessory before the fact to grand larceny; (3) principal in the second degree to uttering a forged instrument; (4) accessory after the fact to forgery; (5) principal in the second degree to grand embezzlement; (6) accessory after the fact to obtaining money by false pretense; (7) receiving and aiding in the concealment of stolen property; and (8) receiving and aiding in the concealment of embezzled property. The information, supra, so filed on May 15, 1950, was one of five charging the defendants-appellants with similar offenses. The defendants-appellants were forced into trial some 29 days after the filing of the above information.
The defendants-appellants filed: (1) motion for a continuance; (2) motion to quash; (3) motion for severance; (4) motion requiring the State to elect on what counts of the information it would rely on and which the defendants would be required to defend against was made prior to the time of the trial and at the conclusion of the State's case. The State abandoned count (3): 'uttering a forged instrument.' The record discloses the following: The Court: 'I will instruct the jury there are seven various ways in which the same offense might have been committed, and they can find him guilty of none or one or any number, if they find him guilty; if they find him guilty under several counts it would still be only one offense.'
The several motions of the defendants-appellants were by the trial court overruled and denied; pleas of not guilty were by the defendants below filed as to each count of the information; they were placed upon trial some 29 days after the filing of the information by the County Solicitor, and a jury hearing the testimony and instructions of the Court upon the applicable law, returned verdicts of guilty under counts 7 and 8, which charged: (a) receiving and aiding in the concealment of stolen property; and (b) receiving and aiding in the concealment of embezzled property. A motion for a new trial on various grounds was made and denied by the trial Court. The defendants were each adjudged guilty and each sentenced to serve a period of five years at hard labor in the State Prison. They appealed.
Counsel for appellants, in their briefs and orally at the bar of this Court, point out that the County Solicitor of Polk County filed at the same time other informations viz.: Nos. 6968, 6969, 6970 and 6971 (see tr. 9) comprising several counts or charges each against the defendants-appellants and having their existence or stems largely from the following factual background: B. C. Cook & Sons, during the year 1950, were citrus fruit distributors doing business in Polk County, Florida. One J. W. Hall possessed a license and was legally authorized to deal in citrus fruits. One M. L. (or Red) Taylor, according to the record, had handled some fruit in Polk County but under the name of J. W. Hall as he did not hold a citrus fruit license. The checks for the fruit would be made payable to J. W. Hall and drawn by a Mr. Merrill, agent for B. C. Cook & Sons, and by him delivered to Red Taylor. Taylor, upon receipt of the check, would obtain Hall's endorsement and then he (Hall), after endorsement, would return the check to Red Taylor, who would in turn obtain the money thereon at the bank. Mr. Hall testified that he had authorized Taylor to handle fruit on one occasion in this manner and on other occasions under enumerated conditions and circumstances.
Taylor testified that he had handled fruit in Polk County on occasions when the deal or deals would approximate $25,000 or $30,000, but it is not clear...
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