27 Ga. 648 | Ga. | 1859
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
A new trial was moved for in this case on fourteen grounds. The judgment of the Court refusing the new trial is excepted to, and assigned as error. There are, in the record, several other assignments of error, most of which are made grounds for a new trial, in the motion presented to the Court below, and such as are not and were insisted on before us, we will, proceed to consider, after disposing of the ' points made in
This Court held in the Case of Crawford vs. The State, 12 Geo. 145, that the testimony, for such purposes, might be read over at the instance of either party. It is true that the object of taking down the evidence is not that it may be used on the trial, but it is impossible that the prisoner on trial could have been injured by having it twice impressed on the minds of the jury, if it was taken down correctly, and it could do him no injustice to have errors, if any, corrected. The ruling of the presiding J udge on this point is made the ninth ground in the motion for a new trial.
The statements of a wife in the presence of her accused husband may be given in evidence on his trial, although she could not be a witness against him, and her statements could not be evidence. The Court admits it under the general rule, that whatever is said to a prisoner on the subject matter of the charge, to which he makes no answer, or if an answer, no direct answer. That it is the wife who makes the statement does not vary the rule. Rex. vs. Smithies, 5 Car. & Payne, 332, King vs. Bartlett, 7 Id. 332. It is the reply, partial reply, or failure to reply, that is to be looked to as evidence, and the statement, whether verbal or written, which induces it, is to be no further considered than it is necessary to understand the reply. With this object the letter was properly admitted, no matter by whom written. 10 Geo. 519, 520.
We perceive no error in the charge of the Court, in laying down the rule for reconciling conflicting evidence.
We have now gone through the entire case, as insisted on in the argument before us. Many of the grounds in the motion for a new trial were not urged in this Court, for the reason that the presiding Judge refused to certify to the facts
Judgment affirmed.