Churchill v. Jackson

64 S.E. 691, 132 Ga. 666, 1909 Ga. LEXIS 382
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMay 15, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 64 S.E. 691 (Churchill v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Churchill v. Jackson, 64 S.E. 691, 132 Ga. 666, 1909 Ga. LEXIS 382 (Ga. 1909).

Opinion

Beck, J.

This is a contest for the guardianship of the person of Anna Kate Churchill, the minor child of Stanley and Pear) Churchill. W> A, Jackson, the applicant for the guardianship, is the maternal, grandfather of this child, and C. N. Churchill, who caveated this application and who asked to be appointed her guardian, is the paternal grandfather. Upon the trial the jury returned a verdict for the applicant, and the caveator moved for a new trial. The motion having been overruled, he excepted.

1. The first ground of the .caveat is that " Anna Kate Churchill is not a resident of Jefferson county, but is a resident of Warren county, this State; therefore this court is without jurisdiction to grant such guardianship, but Warren court of ordinary is the proper and only court that can pass upon such application and appoint a guardian for said Anna Kate Churchill.” And plaintiff in error insists that the verdict-against him upon this ground is contrary to, law and without evidence to support it. At the time of the death of the mother of the child in 'question the mother, who was a widow and survived her husband only a,few weeks, was a resident of Warren county, as was also the husband, Stanley Churchill, at the time of his death. Consequently there can be no question that at the time of the death of the mother the domicile of Anna Kate Churchill was in Warren county. But custody of her was taken by her maternal grandfather and grandmother, by whom she was carried from Warren county to Jefferson county, and subsequently, upon habeas-corpus proceedings having been sued out by C. N. Churchill .to recover possession and custody of the child, her custody was awarded to the defendant in error in this ease; and we are of the opinion that thenceforward, and until lawfully changed again, the last-mentioned county was the county of the child’s domicile. In the ease of Hayslip v. Gillis, 123 Ga. 266 (51 S. E. 326), it is said: "Moreover, in that case [Darden v. Wyatt, 15 Ga. 414] the grandfather of the [668]*668minors took them from the county of the domicile'of theit deceased father and carried them to his home in another county, there to live with him; whereas, as we have shown, the minor in the present ease was carried from the county of her deceased father’s domicile and cared for by persons who were not her kin. Therefore, if the court had broadly held in the Darden case (as perhaps it might properly have done, — see Lamar v. Micou, 114 U. S. 218 [55 Sup. Ct. 857, 29 L. ed. 94]) that the grandfather of an infant whose parents are both dead may change the domicile ■of the infant from one county to another, so as to vest in the ordinary of the latter county jurisdiction to appoint a guardian, such a decision would not have been contrary to the case at bar, for the reason just indicated.” The father and the mother of the infant of tender years both being dead, and custody of the child having been taken by the maternal grandfather, there being no nearer kin, and that custody having been solemnly adjudged to be proper and fit, and having been continued by the judgment of the court which had jurisdiction of the matter, it would seem that the place of the domicile of those to whom the custody of the ■child was awarded under these circumstances became the domicile of the child.

2., The exemplification of the record in the habeas-corpus proceedings, which resulted in a judgment awarding the custody of the child in question to the. defendant in error here, was properly •admitted in evidence in order that it might be considered by the jury in passing upon the question of the domicile of the infant, the right to whose custody was involved in the habeas-corpus' proceedings. But it was admissible only for the purpose indicated; and the jury should have been restricted by proper instructions from the court, directing them to give effect to this evidence only in passing upon that particular issue.

3. The applicant as a witness for himself in this case was permitted to testify, over the objection of caveator, that "my wife and myself are worth more than one thousand dollars.” The objection urged was that this evidence is irrelevant. Inasmuch as the jury trying the case had upon them the duty of looking to the interest and advantages of the child, the guardianship of whose person was involved in this case, evidence as to- the financial condition of the applicant and his wife, who were the grandfather [669]*669and grandmother of the child in question, was not irrelevant but was pertinent, to the issues involved. This evidence was pertinent and material, and the objection was properly overruled. Walton v. Twiggs, 91 Ga. 90 (16 S. E. 313).

4 Error is assigned upon the ruling of the court permitting C. A. Mathews, a witness for applicant, to testify, over the objection of caveator, that “Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Jackson are proper parties to. raise and bring up a female grandchild.” The-objection urged .to this evidence is based on the ground that it stated merely the conclusion and opinion of the witness. The exception was- well taken, and the objection urged to the evidence just, stated should have been sustained. Although the Witness. testified to the facts and circumstances upon which his opinion was based,, when he was permitted to state his opinion and his conclusion,, he was permitted to exercise and perform the function and duty of the jury. The witness should have been confined to a statement, of the facts illustrating the question as to whether or not Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were “proper parties to raise and bring up a female-grandchild,” and the jury should have been left free to consider-those facts, unrestricted by any expressed opinion of the witness as to whether or not it followed, from the testimony of this- particular witness and others who were called to testify as to the same-issue, that the applicant and his wife were suitable persons to be-entrusted with the gearing of the child. “The opinion of a witness is not admissible in evidence when all the facts and circumstances are capable of being clearly detailed and described, so that the jurors may be able readily to form correct conclusions therefrom.” Mayor etc. v. Wood, 114 Ga. 370 (40 S. E. 239). Of course there are exceptions recognized by law to this rule, but the issue involved here does not- fall within any of the exceptions. -In the ease of Moore v. Dozier, 128 Ga. 90 (57 S. E. 110), it is said: “Evidence touching the character, conduct, and reputation for lewdness of the.-mother, and other evidence tending to throw light on the question at issue, was admissible; but it was not competent for witnesses to testify generally that they thought that the mother was an unfit person to rear her children.” What we have said above in regard to the opinion evidence of the witness Matthews is applicable also,to that of the evidence of several other witnesses who were permitted to give in evidence their opinions touching [670]*670the fitness' of Mr.' Jackson for taking charge of and rearing his little grandchild. Testimony of this1 character-'should 'have been excluded, and the court- erred in overruling thé óbjections theréto.

5. In another ground of the motion for a new'trial it is complained' that! “The' court erred in permitting counsel for the applicant,! over1 the objection of counsel for caveator,- to have O.- N.

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Bluebook (online)
64 S.E. 691, 132 Ga. 666, 1909 Ga. LEXIS 382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/churchill-v-jackson-ga-1909.