EARNEST DALLAS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Dallas was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree. He appealed arguing Florida law does not recognize this crime. The Florida appellate court affirmed, holding that assault with intent to commit any felony—including second-degree murder—is punishable under Florida statute 784.06.
Florida law does recognize assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree as a punishable crime under section 784.06 F.S.A. An unlawful assault with intent to kill, even without premeditated design to kill, if imminently dangerous and evincing a depraved mind, constitutes an assault with intent to commit a felony (second-degree murder).
“An unlawful assault with intent to kill, even when without a premeditated design to kill, when imminently dangerous to the one assaulted and when it evinces a depraved mind regardless of human life, is an assault with intent to commit a felony, since such assault if successful would have been murder in the second degree, which is a felony.”
Core holding establishing that second-degree murder qualifies as an underlying felony for assault-with-intent charges
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDallas was charged with assault with intent to commit first-degree murder. A jury returned a verdict finding him guilty of assault with intent to comm…
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On information, appellant was charged with an assault with intent to commit first degree murder and after verdict finding the appellant guilty of assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree, he was so adjudged guilty, whereupon he appealed. We fail to find error and affirm.
The point relied on for reversal is that under Florida law there is no such crime as assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree.
The appellant was charged under Section 784.06 F.S.A. which is:
“Assault with intent to commit felony. — -Whoever commits an assault on another, with intent to commit any felony punishable with death or imprisonment for life, shall be punished by *487imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding twenty years. An assault with intent to commit any other felony shall be punished to an extent not exceeding one-half the punishment which could have been inflicted had the crime been committed.”
As specified by Section 782.04 F.S.A., murder in the second degree is the killing of a human being:
“When perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another, and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual, it shall be murder in the second degree, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life, or for any number of years not less than twenty years.”
Section 784.06, supra, is designed to punish assaults with intent to commit any felony and intent is an essential element of the offense. An unlawful assault with intent to kill, even when without a premeditated design to kill, when imminently dangerous to the one assaulted and when it evinces a depraved mind regardless of human life, is an assault with intent to commit a felony, since such assault if successful would have been murder in the second degree, which is a felony. There is nothing in the definition of murder in the second degree to exclude it from the offense of assault with intent to commit a felony as defined by Section 786.04, supra. Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556, 20 So.2d 801; Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134, 162 So. 346. But see Tillman v. State, 81 Fla. 558, 88 So. 377; McNeal v. Culver, 365 U.S. 109, 81 S.Ct. 413, 5 L.Ed.2d 445.
Affirmed.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., and WHITE, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Seevola Littles v. State, 384 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)…exist under Florida law. E. g., Knight v. State, 42 Fla. 546, 28 So. 759 (1900); Pyke v. State, 47 Fla. 93, 36 So. 577 (1904); Feagle v. State, 55 Fla. 13, 46 So. 182 (1908); Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556, 20 So. 2d 801 (Fla.1945); Dallas v. State, 170 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965); Wood v. State, 251 So. 2d 556 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). Since the crime of assault with intent involves specific intent, as does an attempt, the rationale of the aforementioned cases clearly supports the conclusion that the crime of a…
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Wood v. State, 251 So. 2d 556 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971)…id then and there assault one Ross W. Bass with the intent to commit a felony, to-wit, murder in the first degree * * * ” . Thomas v. State, 85 Fla. 113, 95 So. 752 (1923). . Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134, 162 So. 346 (1935). . Dallas v. State, 170 So. 2d 486 (Fla.DCA 2d, 1965).…
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Davis v. State, 205 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 1st DCA 1967)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed on authority of Dallas v. State, 170 So. 2d 486 (Fla.App.2d 1965). CARROLL, Acting C. J., and RAWLS and JOHNSON, JJ., concur.…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McNEAL v. Culver, 365 U.S. 109 (U.S. 1961)
- Will Tillman v. State, 81 Fla. 558 (Fla. 1921)
- Forest Phillips v. State, 120 Fla. 134 (Fla. 1935)
- Harvell v. State, 155 Fla. 556 (Fla. 1945)
- In re Advisory Opinion to Governor, 120 Fla. 142 (Fla. 1935)