ELBERT EUGENE HARPER, ALIAS ELBERT E. ELLISON,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Elbert Eugene Harper was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. He appealed, challenging the denial of his motion for continuance, the conviction's sufficiency, and the sentence, but the Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence.
The trial court properly denied the motion for continuance because it failed to comply with statutory requirements and the testimony presented failed to establish either that the defendant lacked sufficient preparation time or that the community's attitude would prevent a fair trial. The evidence clearly and unequivocally established guilt of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt with no mitigating circumstances that would warrant a different sentence.
“The evidence clearly and unequivocally establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of murder in the first degree, as charged in the indictment.”
Establishes the court's finding that the evidence supported the first-degree murder conviction.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHarper was indicted on August 21, 1947, for a murder committed on August 8, 1947. He was arraigned and initially pleaded not guilty, then withdrew tha…
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Appellant was indicted for the crime of murder in the first degree. Upon arraignment he entered a plea of not *403guilty and subsequently at the time of trial withdrew the plea by leave of court and tendered a plea of guilty to the offense charged. The presiding Judge accepted the plea and thereupon proceeded to hear evidence to determine the degree of the offense and the punishment to be imposed. At the conclusion of all the evidence and the argument of counsel the court adjudged the appellant to be guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced him to death by electrocution.
An appeal has been taken from the judgment and sentence and for grounds of appeal the appellant assigns, that the trial court erred in denying the appellant’s motion for continuance made after arraignment but prior to trial; that the trial court erred in adjudging the appellant guilty of murder in the first degree without allowing him mercy; and that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict, judgment and sentence of the trial court.
The appellant was indicted on August 21, 1947 for a murder alleged to have been committed on August 8, 1947. On the same day counsel was appointed to defend the appellant, and upon arraignment a plea of not guilty was voluntarily entered. The case was set for trial on August 28, 1947 without objection from counsel. At the opening of the trial on August 28, 1947 the appellant made a motion for continuance upon the grounds (1) that the appellant could not have a .fair trial at the time because of the great and intense feeling and animosity against the appellant in the minds of the inhabitants of the county, in which the crime was committed; and (2) that the appellant had not been afforded sufficient time to prepare his defense.
The motion for continuance did not comply with the requirements of statute prescribing that such motions be sworn to by the applicant. Section 916.04 Florida Statutes 1941: Moreover, there was no affidavit as to the truth of the averments of the motion; the only affidavit being an affidavit of good faith made by appellant’s counsel. But even if the motion had been sufficient as to form, its allegations as to lack of sufficient time to prepare the defense would have been insufficient because no facts were alleged to show why the *404appellant could not have fully prepared for trial between the date of arraignment and the date of trial. Compare Jarvis v. State, 115 Fla. 320, 156 So. 310.
Despite these insufficiencies in form appearing in the motion for continuance, the trial judge gave the appellant an opportunity to prove the averments of his motion. To establish the allegations the appellant called as a witness the Sheriff of the county in which the crime was committed and the trial was to be conducted. This testimony wholly failed to establish that the appellant had not been afforded sufficient time to prepare his defense, or that a fair trial could not be had because of the attitude of the people of the county toward the appellant. The trial judge ruled correctly, therefore, in denying the motion for continuance.
The remaining grounds of appeal question the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict and judgment, and to sustain the sentence imposed by the trial court at the conclusion of the proceedings.
The record filed on appeal has been given close study. The evidence clearly and unequivocally establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of murder in the first degree, as charged in the indictment. Not one single mitigating fact of extenuating circumstances was shown which could have impelled the trial judge to reach a conclusion, judgment or sentence different from that determined by him to be proper under the case presented.
From a careful consideration of the. records and briefs we are of conclusion that no error was committed in the court below, and that the interests of justice do not require that a new trial be had. See section 924.32 (2) Florida Statutes, 1941. The judgment and sentence appealed from are therefore—
Affirmed.
THOMAS, C. J., TERRELL, CHAPMAN, ADAMS and HOBSON, JJ., and WHITE, Associate Justice, concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Smith v. State, 59 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1952)…out which the witness will testify are material to the cause of the defense and cannot be proven by some other available witness. Sections 916.04 and 916.05, Florida Statutes 1949, F.S.A.; Lewis v. State, 153 Fla. 836, 16 So. 2d 50; Harper v. State, 160 Fla. 402, 35 So. 2d 4. The motion was not sworn to as required by statute. Moreover, all that the movant expected to prove by the absent witness was "that he was present and saw Maxwell Smith pay all the money over to M.L. Taylor and that he was present dur…
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Kish v. State, 192 So. 2d 315 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966)…ce has been demonstrated under appellants’ point numbered I. See Jarvis v. State, 115 Fla. 320, 156 So. 310 (1934); Dupree v. State, 125 Fla. 58, 169 So. 600 (1936); Hendricks v. State, 134 Fla. 452, 184 So. 86 (1938); Harper v. State, 160 Fla. 402, 35 So. 2d 4 (1948). We turn now to appellants’ second point, which urges error upon the denial of appellant Kish’s motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant It must initially be pointed out that this point has no application to the appeal…
Authorities Cited
- Jarvis v. State, 115 Fla. 320 (Fla. 1934)