46 Ga. App. 812 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1933
On tbe call of this case for trial a motion was made on the ground of the absence of one of the material witnesses present at the time and place at which the crime was alleged to have been committed. The defendant showed that he had the absent witness subpoenaed, and that the witness was sick with typhoid fever at the time of the trial; that the witness was present at the time at which it was alleged the crime was committed, but he had not talked to the witness more than to tell him that he was going to summon him. The movant swore: “He did not tell me what he would swear. He is a friend of mine and I don’t think he would swear anything against me. I talked with him about three months ago. The only thing he said to me is that he would swear that he was present. He did not say what else he would swear. I summoned him because I thought he would help me. I did not ask him what he would swear, because I did not think I had any right to ask him that. I have a witness present who was in company with the absent witness at the time of the commission of the crime. I did not ask the absent witness what he would swear, because I knew he was a friend of mine and I did not think he would come over here and swear against me.” In Hobbs v. State, 8 Ga. App. 53 (2) (68 S. E. 515), it was said: “Continuances in criminal cases are not governed by the same rules as those in civil cases.” In a criminal case a motion for continuance, while to some extent addressed to the discretion of the judge, ought generally to be granted if his testimony is material, even though other witnesses present may testify to the same facts as the absent witness would state. The absent witness might be believed, while the witnesses present might be discredited by the jury. Hobbs v. State, supra. The fact in this case that there was one witness present by whom the circumstances might be proved would not be a ground for overruling the motion for continuance, for the reasons stated in the case cited above. One
The evidence amply supports the verdict.
Judgment affirmed.