Wood v. State
Wood v. State
Opinion of the Court
Richard Wood was indicted for murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The indictment alleged murder by shooting the victim. The defendant was allowed bail but bail was revoked later and the defendant is now in jail.
The defendant’s motion for new trial, on the general grounds only, was denied and the case is here for review.
The evidence shows substantially that the defendant left the premises where the deceased lived, was gone approximately fifteen minutes or more; that he returned and the shooting occurred. The officer testified that the defendant and the victim were drinking. He testified as to what was found at the scene of the killing.
Mrs. Alfred Ballard, widow of the deceased, testified that she and her husband had lived in a trailer furnished by the employer of the deceased; that there were two other trailers near, one in which the employer lived, and another in which one Quincy Buchanan lived; that the night of the shooting the defendant
Mrs. James Hobbs, a witness for the State, testified that she was standing on the back porch of her home, and heard the gun fired and saw the deceased running; that although it was night there was a light shining outside the trailer and she could see sufficiently to have seen the man running; that she did not know anybody got killed.
Virginia Ballard, sister of the deceased, testified that they were visiting the trailer on the night of the shooting; that the defendant came into the trailer and asked to use the telephone, and that after he used the telephone, he remained for a drink; that there was no drinking until the defendant arrived; that Richard Wood, who came to the trailer that night, was the defendant who was sitting in court; that she and her sister were ready to retire but that the defendant would not leave; that her brother, the deceased, so told the defendant but the defendant continued to remain. The deceased said to the defendant; “Well, if they can’t get you out, I can.” The defendant said: “Well, I will leave after I have another drink with your wife.” The deceased then said: “No, hell no, you won’t.” The witness testified that her brother had been lying down but that he then jumped up and “swung” at Richard Wood because he wouldn’t leave the trailer; that the defendant ran and that that was the last that the witness saw of the defendant; that when the deceased swung at the defendant he hit the sister of the witness; that she and her sister then decided to leave the trailer and go back to their home at Rock-mart. She testified that Richard Wood, the defendant, was the one who caused the disturbance; that after she and her sister left, they got to the city limits of Hawkinsville, ran out of gas, turned around and came back to a service station in Hawkinsville to get some gas; that they then proceeded and were stopped by State Troopers at Perry, Georgia, where they were told that there had been an accident in Hawkinsville and were ordered to return to Hawkinsville. She testified: “Alfred Ballard did not do or say anything on earth while I was down there in that trailer to cause this man, Richard Wood, to kill him. He did not do or say a thing on earth to cause it.”
Mrs. Geraldine Moates, another sister of the deceased, testified
The defendant made the following statement: “I’m not guilty of any crime for what I done. It was justifiable. I left home to go down to this trailer to call my wife at the hospital to see how my baby was getting along. Mr. Ballard’s wife come to the next trailer where I was calling from and asked me to come over and have a drink with them. I told her I did not want a drink but she kept on insinuating [insisting] that I go over and take a drink, so when I got through talking over the phone, I just said, ‘Well, I’ll go over and drink with them.’ I went over and I set on the settee by this Ballard fellow. His wife handed me a glass of something she called champagne. I don’t know what it was. It was liquor. They were all dancing and she tried to pull me up to get me to dance with her and I would not dance with her. I told her I couldn’t dance and didn’t want to dance. She kept on. Ballard’s wife and his sister got to arguing. I guess it was on account of her trying to get me to dance with her. I wouldn’t dance and then Ballard and his wife got to arguing and he made a pass at me and I got out of the trailer. I left that place in a hurry. I went home and was getting ready to go to bed. He came up in my back yard and called me and told me: “God damn it to come out there.” I went out there. I went out there with my shot gun. When I got out there, he was in the edge of my back yard. He had this knife, this same butcher knife. He had it drawn back and said he was going to cut my Goddamn head off. I told him not to do it and he was coming on. I asked him to stop and he wouldn’t stop, and I shot him. I went on down the road and didn’t see nobody. I was going to my brother’s house to take the gun over there to him, and it came to pieces
Buddy Brady, a witness for the defense, testified that he was in the vicinity on the night of the shooting, heard the gun fire, and saw the principals involved; that he heard the deceased call the defendant. On cross-examination he testified as to being in the vicinity to buy some liquor; that the deceased came from beyond a culvert and starting kicking him; that he had never seen the deceased before; that the deceased asked him if he could run, and the witness ran; that two men came up and told him to get in the car (the defendant was in the car) and told him that they would carry him home as soon as they got the defendant home; that he got in the car and went back to the trailer.
Mrs. Mattie Wood testified that she lived near the trailers and heard part of the discussion on the night of the shooting; that she heard a shot but that she could not locate the principals involved.
Sheriff Andrew Hill, upon being called to the witness stand, testified that when they arrested the defendant he said: “Well, Andrew, I shot him but you will never find the gun.”
The court did not err in denying the motion for new trial.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.