Lane v. State

Citations

• 44 Fla. 105

Syllabus

<p>1. A homicide is justifiable under the laws of Florida when committed in the lawful defense of a person when there shall be reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury and there shall be imminent danger of such design being accomplished. The danger need not be actual, but may be apparent, and the slayer is to judge from the circumstances by which he is surrounded and as they appear to him; if he acts upon appearances he does so at his peril, and can justify the killing only where the circumstances are such as to induce a reasonably cautious man to believe that the killing was necessary to save his own life, or protect him from great personal injury, but unless a reasonably cautious man would entertain the same belief from the same appearances, of which the jury are the ultimate judges, it will be no defense even though the belief of danger was honest.</p> <p>2. The belief ®f the accused as to the apparent necessity to kill in order to save his own life or protect him from great personal injury must be based upon facts and circumstances justifying such belief, and where the evidence authorizes the submission of this question to the jury the belief of the accused is material, and it is error to refuse to permit him, who is permitted by statute to become a witness in his own behalf, to testify to his belief based on such facts and circumstances.</p> <p>CARTER, X, dissents.</p> <p>3. The court instructed the jury that “before a person can avail himself of the defense that he used a deadly weapon in defense of his life and be justified, he must satisfy the jury that the defense was necesdary at the time; that he did all he could to avoid it, and that it was necessary to protect his own life, or to protect himself-from such great bodily harm as would give him a reasonable apprehension that his life was in immediate danger.” Held to be erroneous; (a) it is imposed upon the accused the duty of satisfying the jury that th