Cumberlander v. State
Cumberlander v. State
Opinion of the Court
Quillian Cumberlander was indicted for murder, and w'as convicted of voluntary manslaughter. His motion for new trial was overruled, and he excepted.
The first ground of the amendment to the motion complains that the court erred in charging the jury on the law of confessions, because, at most, the defendant made an inculpatory statement, and not a confession. A witness, Shouse, testified that the defendant said: “Well, I just as well tell the truth about it. Here is the way it happened. We were down there gambling. I made King Hill give me 50 cents I had in the dollar,. In a .few minutes King Hill and his brother come back down there and King Hill told me to throw him that dollar. I started to give him the dollar, and he said, ‘Throw it down.’ I laid the dollar down, and he took the dollar. His brother come up and says, ‘Let’s go,’ and they started on up that way a distance; they must have been about 200 feet or 250 feet; and I run around the house, picked up a mustard bottle, knocked him down, grabbed his pistol, and shot him while he was on the ground. He claimed lie shot him with King’s own pistol.” “There is a difference between an incriminating statement and a confession of guilt. In the former only one or more facts entering into the criminal act is admitted, while in the latter the entire criminal act is confessed.” Owen v. State, 120 Ga. 296, 298 (48 S. E. 21). “There is a very wide distinction between admitting the main fact and some minor or subordinate fact or series of facts which could be true whether the main fact existed or not.” Fletcher v. State, 90 Ga. 468, 471 (17 S. E. 100). We think the admission of the defendant is broad enough to comprehend every essential element necessary to make out the case against him. Owen v. State, supra. We there
“Motions for new trial based on newly discovered evidence not being favored by the courts, the evidence submitted as newly discovered must not be merely cumulative and impeaching in its character, but must relate to new and material facts and must be such as would likely produce a different verdict at another trial.” Thompson v. Growers Finance Cor., 49 Ga. App. 119 (2) (174 S. E. 192); Williams v. State, 174 Ga. 174 (162 S. E. 377); Hope v. Biggers, 46 Ga. App. 74, 77 (166 S. E. 686). Applying this rule the court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.