1. Witt was indicted and convicted for the offenses of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The first two enumerations of error, which are considered together, contend that the court erred in allowing in evidence certain items which were the result of an illegal warrantless search, and in denying a motion for mistrial based on the failure to exclude evidence tending to show independent criminal offenses. The two grounds refer to the same factual situation as follows: Witt and a girl whom the landlord understood to be his wife rented the owner’s trailer by the week, and paid in advance. On a day representing a “break even point” in their rent he was told by the girl that the couple intended moving out that evening. The witness waited until dark, went by the trailer, found it empty and the door unlocked and went in. Clothes and personal effects of the couple had been removed. The witness then noticed a television and other merchandise remaining in the trailer and called the police, to whom he gave permission as the owner to search the premises on the good faith supposition that the rental contract had terminated.
(a) We find no error. The owner’s testimony that the rental period had ended was confirmed by the defendant’s girl friend who accompanied him during the robbery. She testified that they rented the trailer the day after the Pizza Hut incident and stayed “about a week,” and that she recalled telling the landlord they were looking for an apartment. Testimony by the police detective who responded to the call to examine the trailer establishes that he was told the landlord owned the mobile home and that it was vacant. The cases Chapman v. United States,
“Ordinarily, when illegal testimony is placed in evidence, it is not an abuse of discretion to refuse to grant a mistrial if sufficient corrective instructions are given in ruling the testimony out... This is true even if the illegal testimony has the effect of placing the defendant’s character in issue . . . especially when the testimony is volunteered by the witness and not directly elicited by the solicitor.”
Cross v. State,
2. The denial of a new trial on the ground that the verdict is contrary to the evidence addresses itself only to the discretion of the trial judge. Code § 70-202;
Payton v. Turner,
3. A conversation between two detectives of Cherokee and Cobb Counties respectively was offered to explain the manner of linking up the money bag discovered in the defendant’s trailer with the Pizza Hut robbery. Code § 38-302. It was admissible for this purpose.
Judgment affirmed.
