163 Ga. 206 | Ga. | 1926
Lead Opinion
Marshall Reed was convicted of the offense of murder. His motion for a new trial was overruled, and he excepted. There was evidence, though conflicting, together with statement of the accused, from which the jury was authorized to find the following facts: On August 29, 1925, Saturday night, the accused, together with a woman companion, Mrs. Probasco, traveling in a Ford car arrived at a church in Rossville, Walker County. They parked the car on a narrow street, nearly opposite the dwelling and cold-drink stand of T. C. Hearn, who was a deputy sheriff. The accused accompanied his companion to the church door, when he returned to the automobile, she alone attending the
The first headnote does not require elaboration.
The motion for a new trial assigns as error that the court expressed an opinion approving the character of the witness and tending to impress the jury that the witness was entitled to credit, in the following circumstances: L. W. Harmon, sheriff of the county, was examined as a witness. The solicitor-general asked, “What else did she say about anything, Mr. Harmon, about how she left home that night?” Counsel for the movant said, “I ob
In Oliveros v. State, 120 Ga. 287 (47 S. E. 627, 1 Ann. Cas. 114), this court was called upon to decide whether the court erred in overruling a plea of former jeopardy under the following circumstances: Oliveros had been indicted for the offense of embezzlement. On the trial a receipt signed by the accused, acknowledging reception of the money, was offered in evidence by the State, and objected to by the defense. The trial judge, in giving his reason for admitting it, expressed his opinion as to the effect and weight of such a receipt as evidence. After the ruling, the trial proceeded for the remainder of the day. The next morning, over a protest of the accused, the judge discharged the jury and declared a mistrial because of the remarks made by him, admitting them to be so erroneous as to vitiate any verdict brought in by the jury. On the accused being again arraigned, the plea of former jeopardy was offered, and was overruled. In order to
The above quotation is not presented as a ruling by the court, but only as cogent reasons expressed by the then Chief Justice. In the present case the motion for a new trial does not disclose what evidence, if any, had been adduced from the witness. The movant merely complained that “during the examination of said witness L. W. Harmon the solicitor-general asked the following question [stating it]. Whereupon counsel for movant said: ‘I object to him leading the witness; let him state all that was said.’ The court then said: • CI don’t think a man like Mr. Harmon, who is an officer and intelligent, would be led or influenced by the solicitor.” Movant’s ground for a new trial is that the expression of the judge gave potency to the witness’s testimony, and was an expression of opinion on the part of the court that Mr. Harmon, being an officer and intelligent, was above being influenced by the solicitor, and would tell the truth irrespective of being asked leading questions, and tended to impress upon the jury that he was an officer and was entitled to credit as a witness. As stated by Chief Justice Simmons in the Oliveros case, this was not an expression or intimation of opinion as to what had or had not been proved, or as to the guilt of the accused. Without discussing the distinction between proof and evidence, as brought out by Chief Justice Simmons, we think it is clear that
In Patton v. State, 117 Ga. 230 (9, 10) (43 S. E. 533), the court was dealing with a motion for a new trial, based upon a scene enacted before the jury. Discussing the episode, this court said: “Such things ought not to occur. Where possible, they should be nipped in the bud before they have time to ripen into damage. It is not necessary for the court to wait for either party to object. The court itself has an interest. The public is interested, and it is a high privilege which the judge has to act on his own motion.” Mr. Justice Lamar referred to the seriousness of the situation, and the result that might ensue had the court, without any motion to that effect, declared a mistrial; and the possible claim thereafter by the accused that he had been put in jeopardy and could not again be put upon trial. Mr. Justice Lamar also said: “Where he [the accused] deliberately fails to ask a mistrial, and where the judge does all that he is asked to do by way of rebuke to the offending party, and gives instructions to the jury not to be influenced by what has transpired, there is a legal cure for what has happened.” In Childs v. Ponder, 117 Ga. 553 (43 S. E. 986), it was held: “A new trial will not be ordered because the trial judge in overruling the motion to dismiss the petition, before any evidence had been introduced, remarked, in the presence of the jury, ‘I will overrule the motion and let you go on, but I don’t see how the plaintiff can recover.’” This ruling was based on the failure of the complaining party to move for a mistrial.
In Potter v. State, 117 Ga. 693 (45 S. E. 37), this court was called upon to deal with a ground of a motion for a new trial based on remarks of the trial judge to a witness on the stand. The witness, referring to previous testimony, admitted that he had made a mistake; whereupon the following colloquy occurred: “The court: ‘You said just now that you made one statement, and then you said you would change that statement?’ Witness: ‘Yes,
Error is assigned on the following charge to the jury: “When the credibility of a witness is attacked, as by an effort to impeach him or her in any of the methods pointed out by law, which I have just described, the jury then becomes the triors of thé credibility of the witness sought to be impeached, and of any witness or witnesses by whose testimony the attack is made. You are to weigh the opposing testimony, and, at last, say whether you will discredit the testimony of the witness sought to be impeached, and consequently give credit to that introduced by way of impeachment, or whether you will discredit the testimony introduced for the purpose of impeachment and credit that of the witness attacked.” The criticism is, that, the court having thus charged the jury that a witness may be impeached by proof of contradictory statements previously made, “the aforesaid charge is not a correct statement of the law, especially as applied to an effort to impeach a witness by proof of contradictory statements, in this: the effect of the charge was to arraign the testimony of the witness sought to be impeached against the testimony of the witness offered for the purpose of impeachment by proof of con
The sentence just quoted from the Code applies where a witness has not been really impeached, but only where there has been an effort to impeach. In the next sentence of the section we find a provision applicable to a witness who has been really impeached, or “successfully” impeached. The language is as follows: “But if a witness swear willfully and knowingly falsely, his testimony ought to be disregarded entirely, unless corroborated by circumstances, or other unimpeached evidence.” It will be observed that the language here employed fits exactly the definition of perjury. The conclusion, therefore, is that when one has been guilty of perjury, he should not be believed, unless corroborated. But section 5884 finally concludes: “It is for the jury to determine the
Movant assigns error in the following charge to the jury: “An arrest may be made for a misdemeanor by an officer without a warrant, if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge, or the offender is endeavoring to escape, or for other cause there is likely to be a failure of justice for want of an officer to issue a warrant.” Movant insists that the charge was error, for the reason that there was no evidence showing or tending to show that any offense had been committed in the presence of the deceased or within his immediate knowledge, or that the offender was endeavoring to escape. As will be seen from the statement of the facts preceding the opinion, the accused and his companion were in an automobile in very close proximity, that is, about six steps from the cold-drink stand of the slain officer and the residence of the witness Holcombe, adjoining. Holcombe saw the accused striking the woman, and reported it to Hearn, a deputy sheriff. Both immediately repaired to the scene across the narrow street, where, in the presence of the accused, the officer asked the woman what was the trouble, and she replied that the accused was striking her. At the same time the accused, who had hold of the woman, released her, using vulgar and profane language. We therefore think, under the evidence, that the charge was not erroneous. Compare Alexander v. State, 160 Ga. 769
Error was assigned on the following charge of the court: “I charge you that one upon whom an arrest is unlawfully being made by an officer, that such person sought to be arrested has the right to resist force with force proportionate to that being used in detaining him, and that if such arrest or attempted arrest by such officer is unlawful, and in the progress of the transaction the officer is about to commit a felony upon the party whom he seeks to unlawfully arrest, and so acts and makes such a show of violence as to excite in the person sought to be arrested the fears of a reasonable man that a felony is about to be committed upon him, and such person acts under the influence of those fears, and not in a spirit of revenge, he may protect himself, although it may be necessary to slay the officer for that purpose.” Movant insists that the foregoing charge was error, for the reason that the language used “made it incumbent upon movant that the deceased was, at the time, about to commit a felony upon him, and so acted and made such a show of violence as to excite in movant the fears of a reasonable man that a felony was about to be committed upon him. Movant contends that this charge as given deprived him of the right to have the jury consider whether the circumstances were such, at the time, as to arouse in movant the fears of a reasonable man that a felony was about to be committed upon him by the deceased and those acting in conjunction with deceased, although no felonious assault may have been impending at the time.” Movant insists that the error contained in the foregoing excerpt is in using the conjunctive “and” in place of the disjunctive “or.” Even if it be conceded that the charge in the respect pointed out was verbally inaccurate, it was not calculated to mislead the jury or to injure the movant.
Movant contends that the court erred in failing to give in the charge to the jury the principle of law, that, “although the jury might not believe that the deceased was at the time about to commit a felony upon the defendant, or that the circumstances were sufficient to arouse the fears of a reasonable man that a felony was about to be committed upon him, nevertheless if they believed from the evidence that deceased was, at the time, endeavoring to arrest defendant, and this arrest, if made, would have been illegal, and defendant, in' attempting to prevent such illegal arrest, shot
Error is assigned on the following charge of the court: “Further in this connection I charge you that, irrespective of whether the deceased was acting legally or illegally, if you find, under the rules of law and evidence I have given you in charge, that the defendant killed the deceased in the way and manner alleged in the indictment, without excuse, mitigation, or justification, he would be guilty of the offense of murder.” It is contended that the effect of this charge was to instruct the jury that the fact that the deceased may have been illegally attempting the arrest of movant could not be considered, within itself, in mitigation or justification of the killing, but that the facts independent of the illegal act of the deceased must appear sufficient to mitigate or justify the killing. Movant contends that the act of the deceased in attempting an illegal arrest of movant might, within itself, and irrespective of the force used by the deceased, or the necessity of the killing to prevent such illegal arrest, be sufficient to reduce the killing to voluntary manslaughter, and the foregoing charge deprived movant of the right to have the jury consider whether the fact that deceased was acting illegally at the time was sufficient mitigation to reduce the killing to voluntary ■ manslaughter. We do not think the charge is subject to the criticism made. In fact we see no error in the charge. It would seem to follow, as the necessary conclusion, that if the defendant killed the deceased in the way and manner alleged in the indictment, “ivithout excuse or mitigation or justification, he would he guilty of the offense of murder.” [Italics ours.] And the words, “without excuse, mitigation, or justification,” would seem to necessarily mean without excuse, or mitigation, or justification, of any bind or character.
The verdict was supported by the evidence.-
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
who dissent from the ruling in the second headnote and second division of the opinion, and from the judgment of affirmance.