109 Ga. 685 | Ga. | 1900
It would be a mockery of justice to set aside the verdict now under review. That this is so will sufficiently appear from a statement of the material facts, as to which there i*s little dispute or difference between the parties. Weems, a colored man, was a cropper of Bargb, a white man, for the year 1897, the contract being that the former was to receive for his services one half of what he made, subject, as is usual in such cases, to the payment of whatever he might owe his landlord for advances. On about thirty acres of land he made a fraction over fourteen bales of cotton and about one hundred and fifty bushels of corn. There was positive evidence that this was very good farming, and we are all agriculturists enough to know that such is the fact. It finally resulted that Barge got thirteen bales of the cotton, the greater part of the cottonseed, most of the fodder raised with the corn, and all of the corn except about ten bushels. After many unsuccessful efforts to bring Barge to a settlement, Weems sold the only bale of cotton which had not been delivered to Barge, and also brought an action against Barge in a justice’s court. At the time Weems sold this cotton, he and his family were actually suffering for want of food and. necessary clothing, and he informed Barge before making the sale of his intention to do so. A few days before the trial of the action in the justice’s court, Barge sued out a warrant against Weems, charging him with a misdemeanor. This prosecution was based upon the theory that in selling the bale of cotton Weems had violated section 680 of the Penal Code, which makes it an offense for a cropper to “ sell or otherwise dispose of any part of the crop grown by him, without the consent of the landlord, and before the landlord has received his part of the entire crop and payment in full for all advances
The preposterous claim for damages presented by Barge must stand, because it has been included wholly or partially in a judgment rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction ; but, under the circumstances, we do not think the existence of this.judgment should-have been proved on the trial .now under
Judgment affirmed.