McCorkle v. State

7 S.E.2d 332, 61 Ga. App. 743, 1940 Ga. App. LEXIS 248
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided February 22, 1940·No. 28047.·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Guerry, J.

Tillman and McCorkle were jointly indicted for the murder of one Moody. On separate trials each was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act. The uncontradicted evidence was that one Hendley borrowed a car belonging to the wife of the defendant McCorkle in order to come to Claxton and see about his own ear which was being repaired. Hendley "found that his car had been repaired and' then procured' *744 Tillman to drive the McCorkle car back home. McCorkle rode in the car with Iiendley to a filling-station between the McCorkle home and Claxton after Hendley had borrowed the car from Mc-Corkle’s wife. The evidence is conflicting as to whether or not McCorkle went on to Claxton in the car, or stopped at the filling-station, some of the witnesses testifying for the State that Mc-Corkle stopped at a filling-station and liquor-shop between his home and Claxton. Iiendley procured Tillman, in Claxton, to drive the McCorkle car back home, and he followed in his own car. They stopped at the filling-station on the return trip and the evidence is in conflict as to whether Tillman or McCorkle was driving the car when they left the filling-station going toward McCorkle’s home. The collision with the deceased’s car occurred about a mile or two from the filling-station. Both Tillman and -McCorkle were under the influence of whisky, and the evidence is that when the car they were riding in struck Moody’s car it was on the left side of the center of the road. The first witness for the State at the scene of the wreck testified: “Mr. Tillman was hanging out of the car on the driver’s side, with the door open. His head was on the ground with his shoulders just touching the ground. His feet were hung under the brake and clutch pedals of the car. Mr. McCorkle was lying' across the seat with his head under the position of the steering wheel, facing the steering wheel and his feet doubled in the seat also.” Both men were in a semi-conscious condition. Neither of the cars had turned over, and both were in the road.

The record shows that before the trial of McCorkle, Tillman had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act. The unlawful acts shown were the operation of the car while under the influence of whisky and driving on the left side of the road while meeting another car. If Tillman was driving the car at the time of the collision a verdict of guilty as to him was warranted. If he was not driving the car he was not in the commision of an unlawful act by merely riding in the car being driven by McCorkle. If McCorkle was driving at the time of the collision a verdict of guilty as against him was authorized by the evidence. There is no contention that the driving of the car was the joint act of both of the named defendants. Neither of thé defendants was the owner of the car so that the act of the driver might be imputed to the one riding as a passenger in the car at the time, as was held *745 in Moreland v. State, 164 Ga. 467, 470 (139 S. E. 77). It was said in that case that where the owner is riding in the car at the time, such a fact “established prima facie that defendant, having power to control the machine, either knew, or allowed it to be illegally run, and was therefore guilty.”

There is no evidence in this case to warrant any charge or to support any verdict based on a conspiracy. If Tillman was driving the. car, and there was plenty of direct evidence to that effect, as well as the position of his body immediately after the collision, he and he alone was guilty. There was no joint enterprise between Tillman and McCorkle in the operation of the car at the time. Tillman drove the ear from Claxton to the filling-station, according to the undisputed evidence. McCorkle got in, the car there to ride to his home. This fact did not constitute their riding together a joint enterprise, nor did it make the person riding in the car a principal in the second degree, since he was not aiding or abetting the driver of the car. In Easterling v. State, 12 Ga. App. 690 (78 S. E. 140) it is said: “Where two persons are jointly indicted for an offense which does not require in its commission the joint act of both, but may be separately committed by either, a verdict finding one of the defendants guilty, if supported by the evidence, would be authorized.” If, in fact, the act was committed by only one of the two persons jointly indicted, and there was no conspiracy or joint act shown, and the other person was not aiding or abetting in the commission of the act, then the conviction of only one of the two was authorized.

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McCorkle v. State, 7 S.E.2d 332, 61 Ga. App. 743, 1940 Ga. App. LEXIS 248 (Ga. Ct. App. 1940).

7 S.E.2d 332 (McCorkle v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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