Easterlin v. State

Citations

• 43 Fla. 565

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Pleas in abatement — Continunce—Affidavit for— Signing- instructions — Assigning error on charges generally— ■ Chapter 4760 laws of 1899 construed.</p> <p>1. The settled rule is that a plea in abatement is a dilatory plea, and must be pleaded with strict exactness, and must be certain to every intent. ></p> <p>2. Under the provisions of Chapter 4766, laws approved May 26th, 1899, abolishing the County Court of Alachua county, no formal certificate of transfer was necessary to remove causes formerly within the jurisdiction of such abolished court to other courts having jurisdiction to try them. Said act proprio vigore effected such transfers without any other formality.</p> <p>3. The refusal of an application for continuance predicated on the absence of a witness cannot be adjudged erroneous when the affidavit 'filed in support of such application omitted to state “that the applicant expects to procure said testimony at the next term.”</p> <p>4. The signing of charges by trial judges is a formal statutory' requirement that may be waived by a defendant,, and a failure until after verdict to except to an omission of refusal to sign them is equivalent toi a waiver or such statutory requirement.</p> <p>5. Where a charge is assigned as error, and where such assignment cannot be said to have been entirely abandoned, but the appellate court sees that it is in good faith insisted upon in the briefs, and that it is erroneous and prejudicial to the defendant, it is proper for such court to adjudge the error therein and to reverse the judgment, even though the defendant’s counsel in his argument or brief failed to point out with accuracy the real ground upon which it is erroneous. (Carter, J. dissents.)</p> <p>6. The settled rule here is that where a single general assignment of error is made to embrace refusals to give more than one instruction asserting distinct propositions of law, an appellate court wall go no further into the consideration of such an assi