Williams v. State

A foul murder was committed when two colored men entered the shop in Tampa of Nick the Tailor, struck an elderly clerk dead with a concrete block which one of them concealed in a sack, rifled the cash register, and fled.

A majority of this court entertain the view, however, that the judgment finding the appellant guilty cannot stand because of the manner of obtaining his confession. There is grave doubt that there could have been a conviction without this testimony of the defendant against himself, and, in any event, it cannot be said that allowing it to be considered by the jury was harmless…