3 Ga. App. 234 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1907
Della Parrish sued Sapp in a city court for the labor of her minor bastard son, and alleged that she had made a definite contract of hiring. The defendant asserted, that while he had control of the boy, it was by reason of the fact that the plaintiff had released her parental control to him in order to get the child supported. The jury having found for the plaintiff, the defendant took certiorari to the superior court. At the hearing the judge overruled the certiorari, and to this judgment exceptions are taken. The petition for certiorari is somewhat unique in structure; in the body it merely recites the fact that the trial occurred between the parties in the lower court, and that a verdict and judgment adverse to the petitioner were rendered, and continues: “and he [petitioner] here and now proceeds plainly, fully, and distinctly to set forth the nature of said case, what occurred on said trial, and the errors complained of: See the brief of evidence and the assignments of errors hereto attached and is a part of this petition;” and concludes with prayer for the writ of certiorari. In the . exhibit, all the pleadings, a brief of the evidence, and the assignments of error are set forth. Counsel for defendant in error contend that we can not consider the assignments of error, because of the manner in which the petition is drawn. They say that it is violative of the Civil Code, §4637, which regulates certiorari practice and provides that “in [the] petition, he [the applicant] shall plainly and distinctly set forth the errors complained of.” We are not prepared to say that the point is not well taken; but since the trial judge passed upon the merits and did not dismiss the petition for this reason, and since wé find an affirmance of his judgment will be the result of our full investigation into the record, we will not pass upon this technical question but will decide the case as if the errors were assigned with unquestionable formality.
2. The verdict of the jury. was written upon the plea. The plaintiff in error insists that it is illegal because it was not written ■on the petition. We know of no law which requires the verdict to be written upon any particular paper, and we are not cited to any decision or statute to that effect. To the contrarjg see Roberts v. State, 14 Ga. 19; Southern Express Co. v. Maddox, 3 Ga. App. 223 (59 S. E. 821).
3. A witness made an affidavit which was attached to the petition for certiorari, in which is detailed a conversion occurring after the trial between one of the jurors and the plaintiff, the trend of the statements made by the juror as set forth being such as to indicate that he went into the jury box prejudiced in the plaintiff’s favor, and winked at her pending the trial. The court could not lawfully consider this affidavit. Gildea v. Hill, 115 Ga. 136 (2).
5. The judge of the superior court could well have set aside this verdict on account of the state of the testimony; but this court has no such power. The brief of the testimony presents a remarkable spectacle. The plaintiff and the defendant were the chief witnesses as to the substantive facts of the case. By proof of general bad character, each — if the impeaching witnesses are to be believed — was overwhelmingly impeached. The plaintiff would put up a witness who would testify'that the defendant’s general character was bad and that he would not believe him on oath; on cross-examination the same witness would also testify that the plaintiff’s general character was bad and he would not believe her on
Upon a review of the whole record we find no reversible error assigned. Judgment affirmed.