159 Ga. 828 | Ga. | 1925
Mrs. Ida Hughes was indicted for the murder of Mrs. M. C. Hughes. The jury trying her returned a verdict of guilty, without recommendation, and she was sentenced to be hanged. The defendant made a motion for a new trial on the usual general grounds, and assigned error in the amended motion on three excerpts from the charge of the court.
We are of the opinion that the evidence authorized the verdict of guilty. E. J. Wynn, a witness for the State, testified as follows: “I live at Hapeville. I am a policeman. I have seen the defendant, Mrs. Ida Hughes. I saw her on the day of the 30th of December, 1923, at her home. Her home is located near Hapeville
L. P. Honea testified for the State as follows: “I am a policeman at Hapeville. I know the defendant Mrs. Ida Hughes. I saw her in December, 1933. I saw her over at her house. I went over there with the chief with a warrant to search. Mr. Wynn is the chief. I don’t remember the date. The defendant, Mrs. Ida Hughes, was at home when I arrived there. There wasn’t anybody else there. Frank Hughes, her husband, was not there. Yes, I saw Frank Hughes that day. I went up to a house where the old lady Mrs. Hughes, it was said, had moved to, and he was up there. I don’t remember the street. Yes, it was the house where Mrs. Hughes, the deceased, had moved to. He was there. He came on down to his home. Mr. Wynn and his wife were at his home. Mr. Wynn showed him tile warrant, then we proceeded to look for the goods. I was in the yard when Mr. Wynn showed Mr. Hughes the warrant. In Frank’s yard. Mrs. Ida Hughes was there. He said, 'Go ahead and look.’ Yes, we went ahead. Miss Ida Hughes shot
The defendant in her own behalf made a long statement covering twenty typewritten pages, most of which narrated the story of her life and where she had. lived from time to time, and concluded: “First Mr. Wynn showed him [Frank Hughes] the possessory warrant. He said, ‘Mr. Wynn this is not a search warrant. You have not got any right at all to go in my house. There is nothing in there that my mother could not get, mine nor Ida’s or nobody’s else, if there should be something there, but there is nothing in there but what belongs to Ida and myself.’ She just shook her head and kept humming something. I was on the porch. He said to Mr. Quinn, ‘Don’t you polices go prowling around my house.’ They just ignored him and went in. Mrs. Hughes went in. She had ' come out of Mrs. Turner’s then. So I went in there. I stood in there at the fend of my trunk right close to the middle door. When I last seen my husband he was on the porch, and when I last seen my husband he was still at his car, still standing by the side of it. When they asked about this trunk Mr. Quinn said, ‘Whose trunk is that?’ I said, ‘My husband’s.’ He said, ‘Whose trunk is this?’ I said, ‘His too, his trunk and mine.’ The old lady peeped around, Mrs. Hughes, Mother Hughes. I did not know what she was fixing to do. I was just looking on. I did not know what they were going to do. The police says, ‘You say this is your trunk?’ I said, ‘Yes, mine and my husband’s trunk.’ He looked, at Mrs. Hughes. She opened up the tray, the lid. She throwed the lid off, and she commenced throwing out my clothes. She throwed out everything I had in the trunk on the floor, this way and that way, everything that I had fitten to wear. Any that she throwed in the floor she would say, ‘That is mine, that is mine.’ I started to say something. Mr. Wynn said, ‘Will you keep your damn mouth shut ? She knows what she is doing.’ I was afraid to say anything else, it hurt me so. In fact I did not know what to do. I could not say nothing. I started out on the porch, and Mr.
■ Error is assigned upon the following excerpt from the charge of the court: “It would be justifiable homicide to kill to prevent a felony upon one’s habitation or property or under such circumstances, of which the jurors are the sole judges, as would arouse the fears of a reasonable man or woman that a felony was about to be committed against his or her property or habitation or person.” The second ground of the amended motion complains of the following charge: “It would be justifiable homicide to kill to prevent a felony upon one’s habitation or property or under such circumstances as to arouse the fears of a reasonable man or woman that a felony was about to be committed upon his or her habitation, person, or property.” The third ground cff the amended motion complains of the following charge to the jury: “It would be voluntary
In no view of the evidence can it be said that there was an attack on the person or habitation of the defendant, made by the deceased, or a demonstration such as to excite the fears of a reasonable man or woman that it was the intention of the deceased to commit a felony on the defendant or,any member of her family, or her property. There was no resistance or remonstrance, so far as the evidence discloses, to the entrance of the deceased to the house of the defendant, or to the trunk where the clothing was located. On the
We are of the opinion, taking the entire charge of the court in consideration, that the excerpts from it are not open to the criticisms directed against them, in view of the facts of the case. The judge instructed the jury: “Gentlemen, as applied to one of the defenses in this case, the court reads to you a section of the code on justifiable homicide: ‘Justifiable homicide is the killing of a human being by commandment of the law in execution of public justice; by permission of the law in advancement of public justice; in self-defense or in defense of habitation, property, or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony on either; or against any persons who manifestly intend and endeavor, in a riotous and tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of assaulting or offering personal violence to any person dwelling or being therein.’ A bare fear of any of those offenses, to prevent which the homicide is alleged to have been committed, shall not be sufficient to justify the killing. It must appear that the circumstances were sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable man or woman, and that the party killing really acted under the influence of those fears, and not in a spirit of revenge. It would be justifiable homicide to kill to prevent a felony upon one’s habitation or property or under such circumstances, of which the jurors are the sole judges, as would arouse the fears of a reasonable man or woman that a felony
Considering the charge of the court in its entirety we are of the opinion that the excerpts complained of were not erroneous for any reason assigned. Judgment affirmed.