Richards v. State
Richards v. State
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff in error was charged with vagrancy. The trial resulted in a conviction. A motion for a new trial was overruled, and he excepted. The part of the indictment necessary for a determination of the case is that the accused did “unlawfully wander and stroll about in idleness, being then and there able to work and having no property to support himself; and did then and there lead an idle, immoral and profligate life, having no property to support himself, and being then and there able to work and not working.” There is no evidence to show that the accused led an “immoral and profligate life.” Does the evidence support the other allegations of the indictment? We think not. In Leonard v. State, 5 Ga. App. 494 (63 S. E. 530), this court held: “Though numerous witnesses, whose testimony is uncontradicted, testified, that they had not seen the defendant work, that he had no visible means of support, and that he was always loafing in idleness when they saw him (and all of these witnesses saw him frequently), this evidence, though true, must yield, in a prosecution for vagrancy, to positive evidence, not necessarily in conflict therewith, and equally uncontradicted, that the defendant had earned and had been paid an amount of money sufficient to maintain him honestly, though only in a meagre style, even though he were capable of earning much more. Our statute as to vagrancy is intended'to enforce honest and reputable living, but it does not tend to luxury, nor compel any one to earn more than his necessities require.” In Hartman v. State, 119 Ga. 428, 429 (46 S. E. 628), Justice Candler said: “It will be observed that under both the old law and the amendment the gist of the offense of vagrancy is the failure or refusal of the offender to work when work is necessary to support himself or his family. .As was said of the old law in Daniel v. State, 110 Ga. 916 [36 S. E. 393], so it may be said of the amendment: ‘The statute was enacted to prevent men, able to work, from idling and wandering about the community, and becoming drones or thieves or charges upon the public/”
While each of two witnesses in this case swore that he knew the accused and saw him frequently, and that he wandered and strolled about in idleness, and apparently was able to work, one of them swore that he worked a little for Mr. Eeynolds during the year 1928; and the other witness, Mr. Eeynolds, swore that he paid him $5 per week and his board; that he was “as good worker as
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.