118 Ga. 644 | Ga. | 1903
This was an application to prove a will in solemn form,, which came on to be tried on appeal in the superior court. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the caveator. The evidence was conflicting on the material issues. The propounder made a motion for a new trial, which the court overruled in an order in the' following language: “The verdict found by the jury in this case, in my opinion, is against the weight of the evidence. It is a verdict which I would not have found, or agreed to, if I had been on the jury. I think that the decided preponderance of testimony is in favor of the will. But there is evidence sufficient to support the verdict, and it seems that the jury saw proper to believe those
When the evidence is conflicting, applications for new trials upon the ground that the verdict is contrary to the evidence, or contrary to the weight of the evidence, or decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence, are addressed to the sound legál discretion of the trial judge. The law imposes upon the trial judge the duty of exercising his discretion in all such cases. See Rogers v. State, 101 Ga. 561; Central of Georgia Ry. Co. v. Harden, 113 Ga. 453. When it appears from the record that the trial judge in overruling the motion for a new trial has not exercised this discretion, the judgment overruling the motion will be reversed. In the present case it appears that the judge has not exercised the discretion which the law vests in him, and in such a case the priuci-' pie of the decisions just cited is applicable and will be followed. The law not only vests the trial judge with a broad discretion in the matter of granting new trials, especially on the first application, but, where the evidence is conflicting, the judgment of the trial judge on this question is generally conclusive. In no case can this court reverse the judgment refusing a new trial, when the evidence is conflicting and no error of law has been committed,
Judgment reversed.