Thompson v. State

144 S.E. 301, 166 Ga. 758, 1928 Ga. LEXIS 399
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided August 16, 1928·No. No. 6180·Published·Cited by 24 cases

Opinions

Hines, J.

The court charged the jury as follows: “If you find from all of the evidence in this case that some person other than the defendant killed Coleman Osborn, as charged in the bill of indictment, and that this defendant, Eula Elrod Thompson, was present at the time aiding and abetting such other person or persons in the commission of his or their unlawful act, and participating in his or their criminal intent, the defendant, Eula Elrod Thompson, would be guilty of murder and you ought to so find.” The defendant excepts to this charge, upon the grounds, (a) that there is no evidence on which to base the same, and (b) that the indictment charged that Clifford Thompson, Jim Hugh Moss, and Eula Elrod Thompson committed the offense, and that by the use of the language, “any other person or persons,” the court turned the jury loose to inquire whether or not others besides the defendants named committed the crime. We hold that the evidence au[773] thorized tbe instruction, and that the second ground of objection to it is without merit. Thompson v. State, 166 Ga. 512 (143 S. E. 896).

In three grounds of the motion for new trial the defendant excepts to certain instructions to the jury, touching the law of conspiracy, not upon the ground that they do not state correct principles of law, but upon the ground that there is no evidence upon which to base them. The evidence authorized these instructions.

The court charged the jury as follows:' “If a conspiracy to rob Coleman Osborn is shown by the evidence in this case, and it is shown that the defendant was a party to such conspiracy, and had not withdrawn from such conspiracy prior to the time that Osborn was killed; and that one of her co-conspirators killed Osborn while attempting to carry out the original purpose of the conspiracy, the defendant would be guilty of murder, although she may not have been in actual presence at the scene of the killing, and although she may not have had any intention to kill and murder Coleman Osborn.” The defendant excepts to this charge, on the grounds, (a) that there was no evidence tending to show a conspiracy between any of the defendants; (b) that the instruction expressed an opinion that there was a conspiracy; (c) that such instruction does not apply where husband and wife are concerned, as in this case. These exceptions are without merit.

The defendant insists that the trial judge erred, after charging the jury as follows: “In so far as the State relies for conviction in this case on circumstantial evidence, it should be sufficient to exclude, not every possible theory, but every reasonable theory save that of the guilt of the accused. It should be consistent with her guilt and inconsistent with her innocence,” in charging, in immediate connection, as follows: “I charge you that, whether dependent upon positive or circumstantial evidence, the true question in criminal cases is, not whether it be possible that the conclusion at which the testimony points may be false, but whether there is sufficient testimony to satisfy the mind and conscience beyond a reasonable doubt.” The assignments of error are, (a) that the giving of the latter instruction in immediate connection with the préeeding one destroyed the true rule in regard to circumstantial evidence, confused the minds of the jury, and tended to wipe out the [774] distinction between positive and circumstantial evidence; and (b) that the first instruction given left the jury to infer that there was other evidence in the case besides circumstantial evidence, and that the court should have instructed the jury that this was a case depending entirely upon circumstantial evidence. The court did not err in giving in charge to the jury section 1013 of the Penal Code, after having instructed them as to the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence to authorize a conviction. Johnson v. State, 128 Ga. 71 (57 S. E. 84); Buckhanon v. State, 151 Ga. 827 (4) (108 S. E. 209). Where the court defines direct and circumstantial evidence and gives to the jury the rule governing the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence to authorize conviction, the omission of the court to instruct in so many words that the defendant’s guilt is sought to be established only by circumstantial evidence is not sufficient ground for new trial. Owens v. State, 139 Ga. 92 (76 S. E. 860). This instruction did not leave the jury to infer that there was other evidence in the case besides circumstantial evdence. Thompson v. State, supra.

The court was requested to give to the jury the following instructions: (a) “I charge you that if the defendant remained in a car at the sehoolhouse, and either Thompson or Moss or both of them went to the store or home of Coleman Osborn, and although their purpose may have been to rob Osborn and in so doing killed him, this defendant would not be guilty unless she was aiding and abetting them and participating in their criminal intent.” (b) “If Cliff Thompson and Jim Hugh Moss or either of them went to the house of Coleman Osborn or to his store for the apparent purpose of getting gasoline, and in doing so a quarrel ensued, and the said Thompson and Moss or either of them shot and killed said Osborn, and the defendant was not present, aiding and abetting them in their criminal intent, she would not be guilty and you should so find.” In two grounds of the motion for new trial the defendant alleges that the requested instructions were pertinent, were not covered by the charge as given, and that the court erred in refusing them. The principles embodied in these requests were covered by the following instructions given in the court’s charge: “To abet another to commit a crime is to command, procure, or counsel him to do it, and presence, actual or constructive, and participation, are necessary to constitute one an abettor. I charge you, therefore, that [775] where one is present where a crime is committed but does not assist in its commission, nor share in the criminal intent, he or she could not be convicted as a principal in the second degree or as a principal in the first degree. I charge you that in order to convict the defendant as a principal in the first degree or principal in the second degree, she must not only be -present, actually or constructively when the crime is committed, if one is committed, but must aid and abet the actual perpetrator of the crime.”

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Thompson v. State, 144 S.E. 301, 166 Ga. 758, 1928 Ga. LEXIS 399 (Ga. 1928).

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