Baynes v. State

1. The indictment is for assault with intent to murder, but embraces the minor offense of unlawfully shooting at another, as denounced by section 115 of the Penal Code (1910). The verdict is in part as follows: “ We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of unlawful shooting/' The remainder of the verdict fixes a punishment appropriate to the minor offense mentioned. The verdict is attacked as being void for uncertainty with reference to the offense referred to, and as being equivalent to an acquittal. Held:

[a) While the trial judge should not have received the verdict in the form in which it…