4 Ga. App. 804 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1908
In tlie court below the defendant in this case was charged and tried jointly with one Crawford, and exactly the same questions are raised by both bills of exceptions. In the opinion in the Crawford case, ante, 789 (62 S. E. 501), we have already fully considered the special exceptions filed pendente lite and the assignments of error contained in the nineteen grounds of the amended motion, and have held, as we again hold, that none of these exceptions are well taken. Having disposed of these, the only remaining question in this case, as was true in the Crawford case, is whether the evidence is sufficient to authorize the verdict of guilty. We are' clear that the evidence' adduced upon joint trial authorized the jury to find the defendant Crawford guilty, and, consequently, this court was without jurisdiction to set aside the finding as being contrary to law for lack of evidence to support it. In the case of the present plaintiff in error, however, we are of the opinion that the judgment refusing a new trial should be reversed, because the evidence against the defendant Laster is insufficient to authorize a verdict of guilty against him.
We waive all consideration of the fact that it is plain that Chason & Reynolds placed but little reliance on the representations of this particular defendant; that they would not consummate the lease until his codefendant Crawford had been consulted; that when the lease was being made, Crawford assisted in giving the description Qf the land, by means of which Chason & Reynolds were defrauded, and the fact that they knew that Laster could not sell the timber without Crawford’s' consent. In a case of cheating and swindling it must appear that he who was defrauded was so defrauded because of his reliance upon the statements made to him; and the evidence for the State upon this branch of the case is exceedingly weak, so far as this defendant is concerned. We plant our judgment, however, upon the fact that the State failed to show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant Laster knowingly made any false representations, or, in other
Judgment reversed.