Ryan v. State

Citations

• 83 Fla. 610
• 92 So. 571

Syllabus

<p>1. Upon the trial of an indictment for murder in the first degree the character of the homicide and the element of premeditation may be proved by circumstantial evidence, the jury being privileged to infer the existence of premeditation and the unlawful character of the homicide from the evidence submitted as they may infer the existence of any other material element in a criminal charge.</p> <p>2. The conduct of the accused at or about the time the offense is alleged to have been committed may go in evidence to the jury as one means of establishing the fact and existence of his guilt.</p> <p>3. A criminal assault made by the accused upon a third person a few minutes after the alleged homicide is admissible as a part of the res gestae when it appears that the accused regarded ' such third person as being the ’ instigator ' of the difficulty resulting in the homicide and the second assault was intimately and directly connected in his mind with the crime for which the accused was on trial.</p> <p>4. Any evidence tending to throw light upon the character of the act under investigation is admissible such as motive, intent, absence of mistake and common scheme embracing the commission of two or more crimes so related to each other that .proof of one tends to establish the other and identity of the person charged with the commission of the crime on trial.</p> <p>5. Objection to the introduction' of evidence upon the ground that it is irrelevant and immaterial is so general in character that it will not be considered unless it he made to appear that the evidence sought to be introduced is inadmissible for any purpose.</p>