Kinney v. State
Kinney v. State
Opinion of the Court
(After stating the foregoing facts.) In Fanning v. State, 17 Ga. App. 316, 319 (86 S. E. 731), the court stated: “To sustain a charge of this character, it must appear first that the house wras a common, ill-governed, and disorderly establishment, and further that the keeping and maintenance of it encouraged idleness, or gaming, or drinking; or other misbehavior; or else that the house was kept and maintained in such a manner as to cause common disturbance of the neighborhood or orderly citizens.” The evidence was sufficient to sustain this-charge.
It is contended by counsel for the defendants, however, that as to Tom Kinney there is no evidence to show that he is the head of the house, and, as to Grace Kinney, it is to be conclusively presumed that her husband Lee is head of the house, and that therefore the defendants cannot be convicted under these indictments, which charge them with maintaining the house under the conditions prescribed. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that this would be the case if Lee Kinney were in fact living in the house as an active member of the household, but, in his protracted absence, such presumptions cannot be indulged.
Durham v. State, 49 Ga. App. 374 (175 S. E. 542), and other cases cited by council for the defendants, apply to relieve a wife of criminal liability only when she is living with her husband and is under his direction and control. They are therefore inapplicable in the present case.
The trial court did not err in overruling the motions for a new trial.
Judgments affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.