Morgan v. State

Per Curiam. Appellant was convicted by the court sitting without a jury of committing an assault with intent to murder Walter Dry and with assault upon Helen Dry, and sentenced to' consecutive terms of ten years and four years on the respective charges. He •contends on this appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction of assault with intent to murder, and that the fourteen-year sentence imposed upon him was cruel and unusual in the constitutional sense. There was evidence showing that on May 1, 1967, appellant approached Walter Dry on the steps of the Dry home; that ap ³⁵³ pellant was in a belligerent mood and brandished a pistol at Dry; that Mrs. Dry grabbed the gun away from appellant, after which Walter Dry chased appellant down the street; that appellant returned shortly thereafter with a pipe or stick in his hand, and told Walter Dry that he was going to hit him with it, but was again chased away; that appellant again returned to the Dry home with two companions and when Walter Dry opened the door, appellant fired three or four times at him; that although Walter Dry was only six or seven feet away from the appellant, he was not struck by any of the bullets; that appellant then left after the shooting, but returned with his companions after Walter Dry had left the house, at which time he struck Helen Dry, causing her to be hospitalized.