47 Ga. App. 229 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1933
Lead Opinion
J. G. Thompson was arrested at the May term, 1932, of the superior court of Eandolph county charged with "making false entries on the books of Shellman Banking Company.” On November 10, during the regular November term of the court, a petition was filed by the solicitor-general, alleging that competent grand jurors and petit jurors could not be obtained in Eandolph county, and the parties had not been able to agree on a county to which the case might be transferred. The court passed an order transferring the warrant and "all matters arising out of the failure
The first headnote needs no further discussion. However, we cite the following authorities: Bitting v. State, 165 Ga. 55 (139 S. E. 877); Hall v. State, 7 Ga. App. 115 (66 S. E. 390); Betts v. State, 66 Ga. 508; Snead v. State, 38 Ga. App. 797 (145 S. E. 919); York v. State, 42 Ga. App. 453 (34) (156 S. E. 733).
It was insisted that the motion for continuance should have been granted because of insufficient time to properly produce evidence and prepare the defense for the trial of the case. The defendant had been arrested “for making false entries in the bank’s books” the preceding May. On November 10, at the regular November term of Randolph superior court this warrant and “all matters arising out of the failure of the Shellman Banking Company” were transferred to Terrell superior court. The fact that no warrant for embezzlement had been sworn out prior to the transfer of the matter to another county, where it also appeared that the defendant was under arrest charged with a crime growing out of the same transaction that the embezzelement charge grew out of, affords no ground for such a continuance because of an indictment returned for embezzlement, rather than “false entries.” Especially is this true where the indictment for embezzlement charges that the crime is committed and secreted by the same false entries. Although motions for continuance at the first term do not stand on the same footing as those made at a subsequent term, we can see no particular advantage it would have given the defendant to have a continuance. We can not say that the trial judge erred or abused his discretion in overruling the motion. See, in this connection, Ivey v. State, 154 Ga. 63 (113 S. E. 175).
We shall now discuss the sufficiency of the indictment here demurred to. It in proper manner named the defendant as being such an officer of the Shellman Banking Company as to be included in the section of the banking laws of 1919 defining embezzlement, and alleged that by virtue of such office he was entrusted with the
In the case of Jackson v. State, 76 Ga. 551, 574, it was said: "Had the indictment simply stated the amount embezzled at divers times during the period covered by these speculations, and set forth the means resorted to in order to embezzle, steal, secrete, and fraudulently take and carry away the money belonging to this corpora
The alleged disqualification of one of the trial jurors because of relationship to a depositor in the bank is not shown. The fact that a woman who was kin to the juror within the prohibited degree was a member of a missionary society of a Baptist church, and had contributed to the funds of the society, and that these funds had been sent to the association to which that church belonged, and the treasurer of the association had such funds deposited in her individual name in the bank of which the defendant was an officer, is too remote as to interest to disqualify the juror from sitting on the trial of the case. The evidence supports the verdict, and we find no reason why the judgment of the trial court should be reversed.
Judgment affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring specially. Conceding that the demurrer raises the question of particularity of description of the funds, securities, and credits, charged in the indictment as having been embezzled, since there was no evidence introduced with reference to funds, securities, and credits, and all the evidence dealt with the embezzlement, abstraction, and wilful misapplication of money and the means resorted to in taking the money, I think the overruling of the demurrer was harmless error. See Hall v. State, 8 Ga. App. 747 (70 S. E. 211); Hudson v. State, 93 W. Va. 435, 117 S. E. 112.