Thomas v. State

Citations

• 73 Fla. 115
• 74 So. 1

Syllabus

<p>1. Section 3178 of the General Statutes of 1906, providing that “whoever aids in the commission of a felony, or is accessory thereto, before the fact, by counselling, hiring, or otherwise procuring such felony to be committed, shall be punished in the same manner prescribed for the punishment of the principal felon,” is in harmony with the common law doctrine that the conviction of one charged with the crime of being an accessory before the fact must be of the same grade of offense as that of which the principal felon is convicted and is in effect declaratory thereof.</p> <p>2. There can be an accessory before the fact in the crime of manslaughter.</p> <p>3. Section 4007 of the General Statutes of 1906, providing that “In all criminal prosecutions hereafter begun in this State, if the defendant be found guilty of an offence lesser in degree, but, included within the offence charged in the indictment or information, such verdict shall not be set aside by the court, upon the ground that such verdict is contrary to the evidence, if the evidence produced in such case would have supported a finding, or if such court would have sustained a verdict of guilty of the greater offence,” is not applicable upon a motion in arrest of judgment, since such motion will not lie upon the ground that the evidence is not sufficient to support the verdict.</p> <p>4. A defendant tried under an indictment charging the crime of murder in the first degree may be convicted of the crime of manslaughter, such lower degree of homicide being embraced within the indictment charging the higher degree of murder.</p> <p>5. Under the provisions of .Section 3991 of the General Statutes of 1906, providing that “Whenever any person indicted for a felony shall on trial be acquitted by a verdict of part of the crime charged, and convicted on the residue thereof, such verdict may be received and recorded by the court; and thereupon any person charged shall be adjudged guilty'of the ■ crime, if any, which