62 Ga. 449 | Ga. | 1879
On Sunday, the 21st of October, 1877, during divine service at a country church in Hart county, four men, residents of South Carolina, behaved in a violent, boisterous and disorderly manner, disturbing the congregation, and causing it to break up and disperse. In the midst of the disorder, a constable, who happened to be present, arrested them. One of them escaped. The constable conducted the other three before a justice of the peace, procured a warrant, and then detained them under the warrant, entering their arrest thereon. They were intoxicated, were without counsel, and could not procure any, but insisted upon being tried at once. The trial was commenced late in the afternoon, and was concluded after dark. It took place at the residence of the justice of the peace, which was about half a mile from the church, and some nine miles from Hartwell, the county town. The state was represented by an attorney at law, and the prisoners had the assistance of a non-professional friend. Twenty-three witnesses were examined, ten for the prosecution, and thirteen for the defense. The costs of the proceeding, as registered on the warrant, amounted to $37.80. At the close of the investigation, the presiding magistrate passed and signed officially an order in the following terms: “After hearing the testimony of the parties, on both sides, it is
At the trial a verdict for the amount of the bond was had against the bail, and they moved for a new trial, the overruling of which motion is the subject of the present writ of error. 'Several grounds were contained in the motion for a new trial, but they nearly all had relation to the alleged invalidity of the bond as a contract made on Sunday, under the circumstances above narrated; which circumstances, with some amplification of the particulars, appeared in evidence. The question is, was the bond valid or invalid ?
Cited by counsel for the bail, 4 N. H., 153; 13 Mass., 324; 12 Ga., 93, 380; 31 Ib., 607, 625, 638; 49 Ib., 436; 55 Ib., 244; Story’s Contracts, 646, 617; 3 Chit. Genl. Prac., 95; 41 Ga., 452; 59 Ib., 683; 46 Ib., 80; Code, §§4579, 4574. By counsel for the state, Cobb’s Dig., 853; 55 Ga., 244; 31 Ill., 469.
Judgment affirmed.