63 Ga. 578 | Ga. | 1879
According to the evidence, a company of boys attending school were all out in the yard and most of them were engaged in playing. One (Willie Love by name) did not wish to play. An attempt was made by some,of his fellows to force him into the sport, as was customary in dealing with a reluctant boy. One Richardson pulled him away from the fence. Love shoved Richardson off. The latter then threw a rock and Love dodged it. Whilst Love was in the act of rising from the position which he had taken to evade this blow, Willie Hill, the accused, threw a rock, and Love, not seeing it, was hit in the mouth. If he had seen it in time he could have dodged it too. It was a way of playing among the boys, to throw rocks at one another, and the evidence indicates that dodging was generally expected. Love and Hill were relatives, and were perfectly friendly. There was no quarrel or cause of quarrel between them, and never had been. The blow with the rock split Love’s lip and broke one of his teeth.
Returning now to the case at bar, nothing is more obvious than that it has no resemblance to either of the two just discussed. They were cases of circumstantial or indirect evidence on the main poiut in controversy, whereas, this is a case of direct evidence on every point. In them the hypothesis of guilt was built, in the charge to the jury, not upon facts which would necessarily involve guilt, but upon facts from which guilt was only, inferrable. In this case the enumerated facts made .guilt with absolute certainty; for, taking what we have ruled under the first head of this opinion, and it follows necessarily that if one throw a rock at another to hit him, and do hit him, or if one throwing a rock make another the object of his throw, and hit him, without legal justification, the thrower is guilty of an assault and battery. It seems quite certain that the charge was not erroneous; but did we so consider it we should do-as was
Judgment affirmed.