Bryant v. State

Citations

• 34 Fla. 291

Syllabus

<p>1. An affidavit by defendant for a continuance in a criminal case, on account of the absence of witnesses for the defendant should allege that the witnesses were absent without the consent of the defendant, either directly or indirectly given.</p> <p>2. An affidavit of the character mentioned in the preceding headnote, on account of the greater temptation to delay, should be more closely scrutinized in a criminal than in a civil case.</p> <p>3. In applications for continuances much must be left to the discretion of the court to which they are addressed. A writ of error will not be sustained on account of a refusal to grant a continuance unless it is a plain and palpable instance of the arbitrary and oppressive exercise of the power vested by law.</p> <p>4. This court can not consider an assignment of error unless the action of the court below alleged as error affirmatively appears of record.</p> <p>5. It is not error to refuse to give the jury an instruction requested by the defendant when the court has already given the same matter in his general charge to the jury, and instructed them fully and correctly upon the same subject-matter. '•</p> <p>6. It is not error t.o refuse a request by the defendant to instruct the jury “that reasonable doubt need not arise from the whole evidence, but may arise from a part or parcel thereof.” A reasonable doubt can not arise from considering “a part or parcel” of the testimony. The reasonable doubt which the law requires shall acquit a defendant is one that arises in the minds of the jury after considering, comparing and weighing all the testi, ,mony in the case.</p> <p>7. This court can not find any error in the refusal of the Circuit Court to give to the jury an instruction requested by the defendant, where such instruction is based upon an alleged admission of the State Attorney, and the record does not show that any such admission was made, and such admission only appearing as recited in the instruction requested and refus