Johnson v. State

In 1879, this court held that it was reversible error for the trial judge to charge the jury on the law as to confessions (now Code Ann. § 38-420) where the defendant had made only an incriminating admission which did not amount to a confession. Dumas v. State, 63 Ga. 600 (1879).

In the hundred years since Dumas, this court has been called upon to decide whether or not the defendant made a confession or merely an incriminating admission in over 50 opinions (see appendix), over one-third of which resulted in the granting of new trials. In the case before us, we have the question again.

The…