Johnson v. State

Citations

• 68 Fla. 528
• 67 So. 100

Syllabus

<p>1. Where a party has been tried for murder in a Circuit Court and convicted, and on writ of error from this court the judgment has been reversed and á new trial granted, and where on a subsequent trial the testimony of a witness for the State who testified on the first trial cannot be had because the witness could not be found, the exclusive method provided by Chapter 5897, Laws of 1909, for obtaining the desired evidence is to introduce in evidence the original bill of exceptions containing the evidence of the witness at the first trial, or if that be lost, to re-establish such bill of exceptions, or such parts as were desired, which would, under the statute, have the force and effect of the original bill of exceptions.</p> <p>2. Where the indictment charges a defendant with murder in the first degree, it is not erroneous under the statute for the trial judge to charge the jury to the effect that if the party indicted is found to be an accessory before the fact to the crime of murder, she (or he) may be found guilty of murder in the first degree.</p> <p>3. A witness who has not testified in chied in regard to a substantial fact, not in issue, may not be cross-examined as to what he may have said to some third person in regard to said matter, for the purrpose of laying the ground for, contradiction or impeachment.</p>