11 Ga. App. 1 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1912
1. A motion to dismiss the writ of error is made, upon several grounds. All of them, however, can be treated as being only a presentation in different ways of the question whether
It appears from the bill of exceptions that a case against Enoch Mosley, the present plaintiff in error, was tried at the July adjourned term, 1911, of the superior court of Tattnall county. It is recited therein that the motion for a new trial was set for a hearing on September 2, 1911, and was finally heard and determined, and the motion' overruled on September 26, 1911; and •the judge certifies these recitals in the bill of exceptions to be true. The plaintiff in error specified as material to be sent up to this court the indictment, the verdict, the judgment, the original and amended motion for new trial, the brief of the evidence, the charge of the court, and the order denying a new trial. An inspection of the record discloses that the brief of evidence bears a caption in which the case is said to belong to a term designated as the April adjourned term, 1911, and the charge of the court'is preceded by the following caption:
“The State | In superior court of Tattnall county, vs. April adjourned term, 1911. Enoch Mosley. J Assault with intent to murder.”
We bear in mind the rule that when there is conflict between the recitals of a bill of exceptions and the record, the record generally controls. In the present case, however, while there is apparently a difference in the statements certified in the bill of exceptions and the record, we see no reai conflict between them.
2. Two exceptions are taken to the charge of the court, based upon excerpts quoted. It is insisted that the court erred in charging as follows: “Now, you determine this question. If the party shot in this case had died, what would be the offense, murder or manslaughter?” The error assigned upon this instruction is that it was prejudicial to the defendant, and left the impression that if the man who was shot had died, the defendant would have been guilty of murder, and that in any event the jury was obliged to infer that the court thought the defendant was guilty of some offense. Viewing this disjointed fragment of the charge by itself, the criticism appears to possess merit, but upon an inspection of the charge of the court as a whole, and in connection with the sentence to which exception is taken, it is quite apparent that it is not subject to either of these objections. Before telling the jury to determine the grade of offense of which the defendant would be guilty, if guilty at all, the judge had charged very fully the law of justifiable homicide, and had told the jury to “take the case and the evidence, and determine whether or not any offense was committed.” He recapitulated by charging the jury again that “if the defendant acted in the defense of his brother, against an assault being committed or about to be committed upon him, which amounted to a felony, or what appeared to him to be a felony, he would have the right to defend his brother against it.” He then
Exception is taken to the following instruction: “Gentlemen, you are the judges of all these circumstances. It is for you to determine whether or not, in the defense of his brother as claimed by the defendant, it is for you to determine whether or not that defense stands upon the same footing of reason and justice, and amounts to a justification.” It is insisted that this instruction left it to the jury to determine, as a matter of law, whether the defendant would be justified in shooting to defend his brother. Even if this excerpt, standing alone, might be subject to the construction which it is sought to place upon it, its language, when considered in connection with the context, could not have misled the jury or have been subject to the interpretation given to it in the assignment of error. Immediately preceding it the judge had charged the jury on the doctrine of mutual defense as applicable to brothers, and instructed them that brothers have the right to
Upon a review of the instructions as a whole, the statement of Chief Justice Bleckley in Brown v. Matthews, 79 Ga. 1 (4 S. E. 13), seems peculiarly applicable to the present case. “Standing alone, various expressions in it would be amenable to criticism. A charge torn to pieces and scattered in disjointed fragments may seem objectionable, although when put together and considered as a whole, it may be perfectly sound. The full charge being in the record, what it lacks when divided is supplied when the parts are all united. United the stand, divided they fall.”
3. The evidence authorized the verdict. It seems that the prosecutor was a stepfather. He had married a widow with several children. According to the testimony of the mother, he supported these children and eared for them as if he had been their father. He was entitled to correct them in a proper manner in ease of misbehavior. It is in the evidence that he had the mother’s consent to control them. On the morning of the shooting he started to chastise a younger brother of the defendant. Conceding, for the sake of the argument, that there was not sufficient cause
4. It is insisted, in the brief, that the plaintiff in error was tried for the offense of assault with intent to murder, and that the jury found him guilty of ¿unlawfully “shooting another.” The point is made that there is no such criminal offense as that of “shooting another,” and that though the defendant could have been convicted of unlawfully shooting at another, yet if one unlawfully shoots and hits another, he would be guilty of assault with intent to murder. We do not concede the last statement to-be sound. One may shoot another and still be guilty of the statutory offense of shooting at another. It is not a question of marksmanship, but of intent and motive. A bad marksman may be
However, the general assignment that the verdict is contrary to law does not raise the point that the finding of the jury in this case, that the defendant was “guilty of shooting another not in his own defense,” did not authorize the court to pronounce judgment upon the verdict. Verdicts are to be given a reasonable intendment, and not to be rendered ineffectual when the true meaning of the finding can be readily ascertained. In every instance a verdict should be construed in the light of the maxim that that is certain which can be rendered certain. Id certum est quod certum reddi potest. Southern Ry. Co. v. Oliver, 1 Ga. App. 734 (58 S. E. 244). As to the verdict in question, see Kidd v. State, 10 Ga. App. 148-9.
Judgment affirmed.