Hall v. State

80 S.E. 307, 141 Ga. 7, 1913 Ga. LEXIS 284
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedNovember 12, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 80 S.E. 307 (Hall v. State) 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
Hall v. State, 80 S.E. 307, 141 Ga. 7, 1913 Ga. LEXIS 284 (Ga. 1913).

Opinion

Hill, J.

The defendant, I. B. Hall, was convicted of murder, without recommendation. He made a motion for new trial, which was overruled, and he excepted.

' 1. The first and second grounds of the motion for new trial complain that two of the jurors who served in the trial of the case, and ydio returned a verdict of guilty against the defendant, were not fair and impartial, but were, on the contrary, prejudiced against the defendant prior to and at the time of the trial, and at the time they qualified as jurors, and during the time they deliberated as such in the case. As tending to show the bias and prejudice of one of the two jurors, it was alleged that he expressed the opinion, in the presence of M. A. Howard, that the defendant ought to be hung;.and in the presence of B. G. Coarsey, that the defendant ought to be lynched; and in the presence of J. P. Davis, that he hoped that they would not get him bn the jury, for his mind was already made up ; and in the presence of G. W. Whittington, that he never had any use for the defendant, and was willing to join in a 'crowd to lynch him; and in the presence of W. G. Gilstrop, that he just wanted to 'get on the jury so that he could hang the defendant. It was insisted that the other juror was likewise biased and prejudiced; and, as evidence tending to show it, that he went to the house where the tragedy occurred, to console and sympathize with the wife and children of the deceased, and sat up with the corpse of the deceased, and while doing so declared, in the presence of G. W. Whittington, that the defendant ought to be lynched that very night. These grounds of the motion were supported by the affidavits of those purporting to have heard the remarks attributed to the jurors, and of witnesses supporting the good character of the defendant’s witnesses. The State submitted the affidavits of .the two.: jurors attacked, denying each and every allegation made against them, and averring that their minds were perfectly impartial between the State and the accused. There were many affidavits supporting the general good character of the two jurors attacked. Four, .witnesses, who were present with the juror Davis on the night that the latter sat up with the corpse of Dennis W. Hall, the deceased, made affidavit that no such statement was made by .the [9]*9juror during that night in the presence of Gr. W. Whittington, nor in their presence, nor in the presence of any-one in their knowledge.

It is well settled in this State that the trial judge is the trior as to the competency and disqualification of the jurors under the evidence, and that his discretion in refusing a new trial because of the alleged disqualification of a juror on account of bias and prejudice will not be disturbed unless it is manifestly abused. We. have examined the evidence upon the question, and it does not appear that there was any abuse of discretion on the part of the triál judge in refusing to grant a new trial on this ground. Ray v. State, 15 Ga. 223; Costly v. State, 19 Ga. 614 (2); Buchanan v. State, 24 Ga. 286 (2); Brinkley v. State, 58 Ga. 296 (3); Durham v. State, 70 Ga. 265 (12); Vann v. State, 83 Ga. 46 (15), 58 (9 S. E. 945); Hill v. State, 91 Ga. 154 (16 S. E. 976); Allen v. State, 102 Ga. 619 (29 S. E. 470); Huff v. State, 104 Ga. 521 (7), 524 (30 S. E. 808); Carter v. State, 106 Ga. 372 (32 S. E. 345, 71 Am. St. R. 262); Hackett v. State, 108 Ga. 40 (33 S. E. 842); Roberts v. State, 110 Ga. 253 (34 S. E. 203); Bowdoin v. State, 113 Ga. 1150 (39 S. E. 478); Jones v. State, 117 Ga. 710 (44 S. E. 877); King v. State, 119 Ga. 427 (46 S. E. 633); Cox v. State, 124 Ga. 95 (52 S. E. 150); McCrimmon v. State, 126 Ga. 560 (55 S. E. 481); McLeod v. State, 128 Ga. 18 (57 S. E. 83); Crawford v. State, 128 Ga. 30 (57 S. E. 94); McNaughton v. State, 136 Ga. 600 (71 S. E. 1038); Jefferson v. State, 137 Ga. 382 (73 S. E. 499); Embry v. State, 138 Ga. 464 (75 S. E. 604).

2. The third ground of the motion complains because, after the case was submitted, the jury were carried to an improper place to deliberate, in that a large crowd remained in the court-room, at the rear of which existed an open closet in which a large section of the wall had not been plastered, there being nothing but lathing with large spaces between, through which not only outside conversation in the court-room could be easily heard, but direct communication be had by the. jury with persons in the court-room, orally, by sight, and in writing; on account of which this defendant did not have that fair and impartial trial to which the law entitled him. In a note to this paragraph of the motion the presiding judge certified that the jury was taken, under instructions, from the courtroom to the jury-room, where the juries were always carried, and where such juries have been carried since the creation of Tift. [10]*10county, the new court-house being in course of construction; 'and that he could not certify that the conversations in the court-room could be easily heard in the jury-room, nor that direct communication could be had with persons in the jury-room orally, by signs, or in writing, on account of the conditions. “I caused two sworn bailiffs to be placed with the jury, and every safeguard thrown around the jury to protect it from the slightest intervention from outside sources. I was in the court-room constantly, holding court, and could not have heard anything at all from the jury-room, and apprehended that nothing could be heard in the jury-room from the court-room.” The two sworn bailiffs who attended the jury in this ease testified, that no one tried to communicate with the jury in any manner whatever, and that had any one done so they would have known about it; that the jury was absolutely “under guard at all times,” and that while deliberating in the jury-room, one of the deponents guarded the door and the other kept watch around the jury-room on the outside to see that no one came anywhere about the jury-room; and that no person entered the closet to their knowledge, and could not have entered without their knowledge; and that the conduct of the jury was in accordance with the instructions of the court that the jury were never to communicate with-any one without the permission of the court.

There is nothing in the motion, or otherwise, showing affirmatively that there was any communication between the jury or any member of it and those on the outside of the jury-room during the consideration of the case; and in view of the certificate of the presiding judge, and the affidavits of the attending bailiffs, we think the court did not err in refusing a new trial on this ground of the motion. It nowhere appears that the defendant was hurt in any way by reason of the jury deliberating in the places they did. See Brown v. City of Atlanta, 66 Ga. 76.

3. Error is assigned because the court refused a new trial because of the newly discovered evidence of T. S. Marchant, who would testify: “That on the day Dennis W. Hall was killed, and about half an hour before the shooting, Dennis W.

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Bluebook (online)
80 S.E. 307, 141 Ga. 7, 1913 Ga. LEXIS 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-state-ga-1913.