Hart v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia
Indictment for selling spirituous liquor. Before Judge Williamson. City court of Monroe county. March adjourned term, 1893. After conviction, defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied. The material ground of the motion is, that the court erred in charging the jury §3875 of the code, there being no evidence to warrant such a charge, and the court not explaining what was meant by proof of general good character.
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Indictment for selling spirituous liquor. Before Judge Williamson. City court of Monroe county. March adjourned term, 1893. After conviction, defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied. The material ground of the motion is, that the court erred in charging the jury §3875 of the code, there being no evidence to warrant such a charge, and the court not explaining what was meant by proof of general good character. The evidence was as follows: Charlie Waller testified : I know the defendant, Orange Hart; saw him at a church near Montpelier Springs in Monroe county on the first Sunday in May,…
1Opinion of the Court
Bleckley, Chief Justice.
The State’s case depended wholly upon the testimony of a single witness. He was impeached by evidence of bad character, by previous contradictory statements with reference to the substance of his evidence, and by evidence in behalf of the defence tending to disprove the main fact involved in the alleged guilt of the accused. There was no attempt to sustain him by evidence of his good character, and yet the court charged the jury that a witness sought to be impeached could be thus sustained. This charge was irrelevant and consequently erroneous. *164Generally, no doubt, it…
2Cited by15 opinions
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- Weatherby v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1957
- Johnson v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1960
- Kelly v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1903
- Rountree v. ToddSupreme Court of Georgia · 1953
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