Appellant was indicted, tried, and convicted of rape without recommendation and sentenced to death. From that verdict and judgment he appealed and filed enumeration of errors alleging 22 errors. There is no contention that the verdict is not supported by the evidence, is contrary to the evidence or without evidence to support it. Thus, it is not necessary to relate thе facts in the case.
Enumerations of error 1 and 2 complain of the admission in evidence without objection of certain incriminating statements made by the defendant. The admission in evidence of the statements without objection was not error.
Taylor v. State,
Enumerations 4, 5, 6, 7, and 13 complain of the admission in evidence of certain articles taken from appellant’s car on the ground that this constitutеd an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the 4th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution and Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XVI of the Constitution of Georgia and Sec. I, Ga. L. 1966, p. 567 (Code Ann. § 27-301).
In our opinion the evidence was admissible under the facts of this case, as the automobile was an instrumentality used in the commission of the crime and was itself admissible in evidence just as would a pistol used to commit a murder be admissible. And just аs the cartridges in the pistol, or the spent cartridges found in the gun, would be admissible, so would articles found in the car indicative of the use of the car in the commission of the crime be admissible. In order to demonstrate the soundness of these conclusions we must review the pertinent facts. The lady, the victim of the rape, was returning at night from her place of work in Dublin, Georgia, to her home in Sandersville some forty miles away. .She was alone driving a two-door Pontiac with both doors locked. She noticed a car following her closely. As she would speed up, that car would do the same. He blinked his lights bright and then dim, obviously attempting to get her to stop. When she continued at a faster rate of speed, he finally drove up beside her, and struck the left front of her car pushing it into the ditclu The vent window on her sidе was slightly open, so he forced it open and was in process of opening the door. She jumped out on the other side and ran. He caught her and after a terrific struggle forced her into his car. She bit him severely on his hand and scratched
He drove back to the highway, put her out, and she made her way to the closest house, reaching there in a state of shock and stupor. The matter was reported to Johnson County Sheriff Attaway by telephone. She described the car as being red and white, so a number of officers began searching the countryside for a red and white car. After an hour or so, such a car was found. It was in the vicinity of defendant’s house. The officer saw a sign of blood on the outside of the car and one on the inside. He then went to defendant’s house and knocked on the door, but got no response. He reported to Sheriff Attaway, who came, knocked on the door, and said open the door. The defendant did, and the officers entered. The sheriff asked defendаnt where he got the cut on his hand and the visible scratches. He said he got them from briars. The sheriff testified he felt then thathe had the right man and told him he was under arrest. The officers brought him, some of his clothes, and the automobile with them to Wrightsville. The crime was committed in the adjoining county, Washington, so the Sheriff of Washington County came to Wrightsville and the officers questioned defendant. He denied his guilt; never made any confession. The sheriff then took the defendant, the articles from the house and the automobile to Sandersville. The car was parked near the jail, and on the second day the officers made a picture of the blood on the outside and inside of the car and cut and removed a patch from the seat cover which had a blood splotch on it, removed a handkerchief which was hanging on the brake, and removed a tire from the car and had a mold made of the tread for comparison with the tire tracks found at the scene of the crime. All of these were admitted over objection that they were the result of an unreasonable and illegal search, since made without a search warrant.
Accepting our original premise that the car was admissible in еvidence, as an instrumentality used in the commission of the crime, and it not being practical to produce a car in a court
It is well established by' old as well as recent United States Supreme Court cases that instrumentalities used in the commission of a crime may be seized at the time of the arrest without a search warrant. “The doctrine that a search without warrant may be lawfully conducted if incident to a lawful arrest has long been recоgnized as consistent with the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures,” Ker v. California,
In Preston v. U. S.,
In Ker v. California,
Enumerations of error 4, 5, 6, 7, and 13 are without merit.
Enumeration 3 complaining оf the admission in evidence of testimony of a doctor over appellant’s objection to the results of an examination of the nude body of appellant is without merit, as the court sustained appellant’s objection to the doctor testifying what scratches or injuries on his body were disclosed by his having the prisoner strip off his clothes. Schmerber v. California,
Enumerations 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are considered together as they relate to the admission in evidence over appellant’s ob
Enumeration 14 complains that the court, prior to defendant making an unsworn statement, failed to correctly advise and instruct him as to his right to have the assistance of counsel and to present evidence in his defense in violation of the 6th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution and Code Ann. § 38-415 (Ga. L. 1962, pp. 133, 134), in that he failed to instruct the defendant that he had a right to testify under oath as a witness in his own behalf. Code Ann. § 38-415 provides that the defendant has the right to make an unsworn statement in his behalf and will not be compelled to answer questions on cross examination and that “In the alternative, however, if the prisoner wishes to testify and announces in open court his intention to do so he may so testify in his own behalf.” So far as the record shows the prisoner voluntarily took the stand to make an unsworn statement. He did not announce in open court his intention to testify, as required by the statute. He was represented by competent counsel, and we can assume that defendant elеcted to make an unsworn statement after consultation and upon advice of his counsel. This ground is without merit.
Enumeration 16 complains that the court erroneously expressed an opinion and charged the jury incorrectly on the question of whether it could or could not recommend mercy, when he charged: “The granting of it [mercy] in cases of conviction is a mere matter of gracе that comes after guilt is established.” This charge complained of followed immediately upon the charge that it was within the discretion of the jury whether they recommend mercy, that they may do so with or without reason; that they may do so as a matter of public policy, or out of sympathy for the prisoner or may decline to do so for the same reasons. This ground is clearly without merit. See
Wyatt v. State,
Enumeration 17 excepts to the court’s charge on admissions made by defendant and specifically to: “. . . an admission, if any, must have been freely and voluntarily made without any hope of reward or fear of punishment.” The statute involved,
Code
§ 38-411 reads: “To make a confession admissible, it must have been made voluntarily, without being induced by another by the slightest hope of benefit or remotest fear of injury.” The charge is favorable to the appellant rather than harmful, as “any hope of reward or fear of punishment” excludes all hope and all fear and goes beyond the statutory requirement, and the “hope of reward or fear of punishment” which rendеrs an admission or confession inadmissible is that which is induced by another. Fear or hope originating in the party’s own mind from seeds of his own planting would not suffice to render the admission inadmissible for it would not meet the requirement that it must have been induced by another. See
Hill v. State,
Enumeration 19 alleging that the grand jury which indicted appellant and the traverse jury which tried him were constituted and composed in violation of Section I, Article I of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section III of the Constitution of Georgia because of arbitrary and systematic exclusion of Negroes from the grand and traverse juries of Washington County in the absence of a timely challenge to the jury is not reviewable.
Sims v. Balkcom,
Enumeration 20 alleges that the verdict and judgment sentencing appellant to death under
Code Ann.
§ 26-1302 are void under the 8th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. This court in
Sims v. Balkcom,
The contention that the statute, Code Ann. § 26-1302, denies equal protection in violation of the 14th Amendment to Negroes because more Negroes have received the death sentence for rape than white persons is obviously without merit. Furthermore, the issue was not raised or tried in the trial court. The constitutionality of the statute cannot be raised for the first time in this court.
Enumeration 21 alleging that the verdict аnd- judgment are null and void under the 5th, 6th, 8th/and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution by reason of submission of
Enumeration 22 alleging that exclusion under
Code
§ 59-806 (4) of persons conscientiously opposеd to capital punishment is a denial of rights under the 5th, 8th, and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution, is answered by this Court in
Massey v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
