Horne v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Horne v. State

186 S.E.2d 542, 125 Ga. App. 40, 1971 Ga. App. LEXIS 730

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia

DecidedOctober 28, 1971

Docket46633

StatusPublished

Cited by5 cases

This text of 186 S.E.2d 542 (Horne v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Horne v. State, 186 S.E.2d 542, 125 Ga. App. 40, 1971 Ga. App. LEXIS 730 (Ga. Ct. App. 1971).

Pincite

Opinion

Bell, Chief Judge.

The defendant was convicted of maintaining a disorderly house, adultery and fornication, and three counts of adultery. Held:

1. A witness for the State, a woman who was not a party to any of the alleged crimes, testified -over objection that sometime between 1965 and 1968 defendant performed *41 an act of indecency upon her within the privacy of the defendant’s home in Bibb County with no one else present. The evidence of this transaction, is completely foreign to and has no logicál connection with the .crimes charged against defendant. Evidence which does not in any reasonable degree tend to establish the probability of the issues of fact in controversy is irrelevant and inadmissible. Code § 38-201; Spencer v. State, 95 Ga. App. 454 (98 SE2d 94). Although this act of indecency committed in the. privacy of defendant’s home does not constitute a crime (see Riley v. Garrett, 219 Ga. 345, 347 (133 SE.2d 367) and former Code § 26-6101), nonetheless, there is the possibility that it was considered by the jury as a loathsome and disgusting act which would have the effect of exciting the jury’s prejudice and passion against the defendant. The admission of this evidence constitutes reversible error.

Argued October 4, 1971 Decided October 28, 1971 Rehearing denied November 18, 1971. John C. Scarborough, Jr., W. B. Mitchell, for appellant. Fred M. Hasty, John P. Howell, for appellee.

2. All other errors urged are without merit.

Judgment reversed.

Panned and Deen, JJ., concur.

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Bell, Chief Judge.

The defendant was convicted of maintaining a disorderly house, adultery and fornication, and three counts of adultery. Held:

1. A witness for the State, a woman who was not a party to any of the alleged crimes, testified -over objection that sometime between 1965 and 1968 defendant performed *41 an act of indecency upon her within the privacy of the defendant’s home in Bibb County with no one else present. The evidence of this transaction, is completely foreign to and has no logicál connection with the .crimes charged against defendant. Evidence which does not in any reasonable degree tend to establish the probability of the issues of fact in controversy is irrelevant and inadmissible. Code § 38-201; Spencer v. State, 95 Ga. App. 454 (98 SE2d 94). Although this act of indecency committed in the. privacy of defendant’s home does not constitute a crime (see Riley v. Garrett, 219 Ga. 345, 347 (133 SE.2d 367) and former Code § 26-6101), nonetheless, there is the possibility that it was considered by the jury as a loathsome and disgusting act which would have the effect of exciting the jury’s prejudice and passion against the defendant. The admission of this evidence constitutes reversible error.

Argued October 4, 1971 Decided October 28, 1971 Rehearing denied November 18, 1971. John C. Scarborough, Jr., W. B. Mitchell, for appellant. Fred M. Hasty, John P. Howell, for appellee.

2. All other errors urged are without merit.

Judgment reversed.

Panned and Deen, JJ., concur.

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Bluebook (online)

186 S.E.2d 542, 125 Ga. App. 40, 1971 Ga. App. LEXIS 730, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/horne-v-state-gactapp-1971.

Opinion

2. All other errors urged are without merit.

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