155 Ga. 219 | Ga. | 1923
1. Error is assigned because the court allowed W. R. Little to testify, over objection: “With reference to that applying to all this borrowed money represented by these notes, I will answer it this way: some was paid out for supporting the poor, some paid out for bridges and some for roads.” The admission of such evidence was not error over the objection that the warrants would be the best evidence of the purposes for which the money was used, and that the answer was merely a conclusion of the witness. The answer
2. Error is assigned because the court, over objection, permitted a witness, who was an auditor for Franklin County, and who had made an audit of the books and accounts of the treasurer, to testify, in answer to the question, “ From having made an audit of all the books, papers, and documents in evidence, I will ask you whether or not you did find any shortage as the result of your examination,” as follows: “As a result of the first examination we found a deficit of $20,368.21.” The objection was that the question called for a conclusion of the witness, that the answer was a mere conclusion, and that as an expert accountant he was not authorized to give his conclusion or general opinion. Such evidence was admissible to aid the jury in their investigation; the question as to what are the proper deductions to be made from the entries in the books and papers being at last solely for the jury. Crawford v. Roney, 126 Ga. 763 (5) (55 S. E. 499).
3. Error is assigned because the witness Stanaland was permitted to testify in behalf of the defendant, Franklin County, that a certain draft for the sum of $1,000, dated November 29, 1919, payable to the order of E. F. Ray, cashier, drawn on the Bank of Toccoa, signed by G. A: McFarlin, and indorsed as paid, -was a part of the deficit, because the amount of this particular cheek was found credited to the personal account of G. A. McFarlin at the Farmers Bank of Royston, Georgia. Such evidence was not inadmissible over the objection that the records of the Farmers Bank would be the best evidence as to the charging of this particular cheek; and that the witness should not have been permitted to testify as to the entries on the books of the bank, because such books were the best evidence. Crawford v. Roney, supra.
4. Error is also assigned because the court admitted in evidence a "check for $4,200, dated Carnesville, Ga., January 6, 1920, payable to L. F. Lenhart, cashier, drawn on the Bank of Toccoa, signed by G. A. Mc-Farlin, treasurer Middle River Drainage District; also a check dated Toccoa, Ga., January 10, 1920, in favor of E. F. Ray, cashier, for the sum of $5,000, on the Bank of Toccoa. The witness Stanaland testified, on direct examination, that these two checks were a part of the alleged deficit. On cross-examination, being asked as to his knowledge on which he predicated his testimony, he answered: “We have our own methods of investigation. I cannot answer that straight yes or no, because it involves too many other things. We had our methods to determine what funds these particular cheeks were charged against, what money paid these checks, and we used that method. I have not a copyright on that method — it is private. It'is of a professional nature, of course. It is not necessary whether it is a professional secret. [If] it is necessary for me to state, then I do not know.” In immediate sequence the witness testified, by reference to the ledger-sheets at the Bank of Toccoa: “It can be found that particular checks have little red circles by them, and other checks will not have them; they were put there for the proper identification that when this check amounted to a certain amount this
6. The ground of the motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence of Metz, an auditor employed by the plaintiffs in error subsequently to the trial of the case, to examine the books and papers of the treasurer, is without merit. The court was authorized to find that by the exercise of ordinary diligence the facts contained in the affidavit of this witness could have been discovered prior to the trial.
7. There is sufficient evidence in the record to authorize the jury to find that a shortage in the accounts of the treasurer occurred between January 1, 1917, and December 31, 1920; and although there was some evidence which tended to show a checking out of various amounts . prior to the first-named date, the evidence is sufficient to authorize the verdict, and the court did not err in refusing a new trial on the ground that the verdict was contrary to the evidence and without evidence to support it.
Judgment affirmed.