Hicks v. State

Citations

• 25 Fla. 535

Syllabus

<p>1. Where there is conflicting evidence in a case it is the duty of the jury, if they can, to reconcile the conflict, but if they cannot do so, it- is their duty to discard any evidence they do not believe, and to render tlieir verdict upon the evidence they may believe to be true.</p> <p>% The verdict of a jury will not be set aside upon the ground that it is against the weight of evidence unless the preponderance is such that it must have been produced by considerations other than a due respect to the evidence.</p> <p>3. Malice, and the premeditation necessary to be proved to show murder in the first d-gree, may be legitimately inferred by the jury, as a question of fact, from the circumstances of the case.</p> <p>4. An application for a continuance is always addressed to the sound discretion of the court,’ and such discretion will not be controlled by the appiellate court, unless ir appears that the court below abused its authority, whereby die rights of the party may have beeli jeopardized.</p> <p>5. Where a party is on trial charged with murder in the first degree, it is the duty of the court to charge the jury as to the different degrees or grades of homicide applicable to the evidence in the case, but it is not the duty of the court to charge upon a degree of homicide to which the evidence of the case does not apply.</p> <p>O. It is not error, even in a capital case, for the jury to embody in their verdict a recommendation to the mercy of the court.</p>