Smith v. State

The testimony on which the majority relies as showing, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant Smith had a weapon the night he broke out of the Jackson County jail proves no more than that he pinched the jailer’s neck, using his fingernails. This is one of those rare cases in which an appeals court, asked to review the denial of motions for judgment of acquittal and for a new trial, *127ought to find that evidence to support the verdict simply was not there.

The majority’s scholarly opinion largely misses the point. The cases to do with threats are inapposite. “I’ll kill you,” unlike “Stop or…