Tillman v. State

Will Tillman was tried in the Circuit Court of Manatee County on an indictment charging that he “unlawfully, feloniously, and from a premeditated design to effect the death” of C. D. Blaekwelder, an assault did make, etc., “with intent the said C. D. Blaekwelder then and there to kill and murder.” He was convicted of “assault with intent to commit murder in the third degree.”

It is contended by the defendant in error that the verdict is illegal in that it finds the defendant guilty of an offense that does not exist. Murder in the third degree is defined by the statute to be “the unlawful…