152 Ga. 81 | Ga. | 1921
“ 1. A rule nisi for contempt of court was brought against two defendants jointly; they made a joint answer thereto, and were tried together. After hearing evidence the judge, who was sitting both as court and jury, rendered two ’separate written findings and judgments; in one he adjudged one of the defendants to be in contempt of court, and sentenced him to pay one hundred dollars and to serve twenty days in jail; and in the other he adjudged the other defendant to be in contempt of court and sentenced him to pay one. hundred dollars. Under these circumstances can the two defendants bring a. joint bill of exceptions to this court?
“ 2. If the above question is answered in the affirmative, then an answer is requested to the following question: Several criminal cases against Dewey Powell and Frank Heard were pending in the city court of Miller county, and Elisha Poland had been subpoenaed to attend at a certain specified term of the court as a witness for the State in those cases. The witness Poland lived ,in Early c.ounty. Upon the hearing of the contempt proceedings the evidence for the State showed that after the witness Poland had been subpoenaed but before he had appeared as court, the fathers of Dewey Powell and Frank Heard saw him in Early county and endeavored to bribe him to leave the State, and not to appear-and testify against their sons in the city court of Miller county. There was also evidence which authorized a finding that the father of Dewey Powell, while the above-mentioned cases were pending, in’, the city "court' of Miller, county,, and after the witness Poland had been stibpcenaed as a witness, theiein and before he had appeared at court, endeavored in the county of Miller
In the eases cited in support of the Futch case, supra, and like (cases there were two cases to be tried, but by agreement or order consolidating the two cases they were tried as one; And in the case of Brown v. L. & N. R. Co., 117 Ga. 222 (43 S. E. 498), this court held that an order passed upon agreement of counsel that two suits, each based solely upon a common-law cause of action in favor of different plaintiffs and against the same defendants, did not have the effect to merge the two cases into one, but the effect of such order was to provide simply that the suits should be consolidated only to the extent of being tried together. But -in the present case it appears that there was but one rule nisi against the defendants jointly for contempt; and while there were two separate judgments by the judge sitting both as court and jury, the judgment was the same in each case, except as to the degree of punishment inflicted upon each defendant, which was different. So that the present case is distinguishable from the Futch case, and those upon which it was based, and similar cases, in that there were two cases really, and judgments entered in those cases; whereas there was but one ease tried in the present instance. This being so, we think that a single bill of exceptions will lie in the case under consideration, and that the court in which the bill of exceptions is pending has jurisdiction to determine the same.