Wiggins v. State
| Decision Date | 02 March 1887 |
| Parties | WIGGINS v. STATE. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Error to circuit court, Putnam county.
Indictment for murder.
Syllabus by the Court
An indictment for murder in the first degree should charge a premeditated intent or desire to kill, as it alone distinguishes that crime from murder in the lesser degrees.
The bill of exceptions should be full and sufficient, and this court will not examine the assigned errors when the judge certifies that it is 'an imperfect bill of exceptions,' not showing all the evidence.
Exceptions taken to the form and validity of the indictment which appear in the record, will of course be considered.
The verdict of the jury that they find the defendant guilty upon an indictment not charging the murder to have been premeditated, will not warrant a sentence of death.
W. H. Wigg, for plaintiff in error.
The Attorney General, for the State.
On the twelfth day of November, A. D. 1885, the plaintiff in error Henry Wiggins, was indicted for the murder of William B Porter, of Putnam county. The defendant was arraigned in the same month, and entered a plea of not guilty. In April, 1886 the case was tried by a jury, and defendant was found guilty. A motion for a new trial was made upon several grounds. This motion was overruled by the court, and Wiggins was sentenced to death. From this judgment the case is brought here by writ of error, and the errors assigned are the same as those upon which the motion for a new trial was overruled save only they allege that the court erred in 'sentencing defendant to death when the verdict did not specify the degree of murder, and that the indictment is fatally defective in not following the words of the statute.'
What purports to be the bill of exception in this case is defective and imperfect. In fact it gives no basis for action upon it in this court. The judge who signs it, in his certificate, says that it does not show all the evidence in the case; that there were six other very material witnesses whose testimony is not included in it; and he concludes his certificate as follows: 'I sign the imperfect bill of exceptions presented that the prisoner's attorneys may raise the points they desire to make in regard to jurors and confessions, should the supreme court consider it proper to allow the appeal without a complete statement of the evidence.' Many...
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... ... not included in the bill of exceptions, assignments of error ... based upon the insufficiency of the evidence to support the ... verdict will not be considered by the appellate court. See ... Robinson v. Hartridge, 13 Fla. 501; Reed v ... State, 16 Fla. 564; Wiggins v. State, 23 Fla ... 180, 1 So. 693; Marshall v. State, 32 Fla. 462, 14 ... So. 92; Pickett v. Bryan, 34 Fla. 38, 15 So. 681; ... Holland v. State, 39 Fla. 178, 22 So. 298. If the ... bill of exceptions and transcript of the record are prepared ... and authenticated in compliance with special ... ...
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