Johnson v. State
Johnson v. State
Opinion of the Court
1. Where, as here, the only written demand made by defendant and his counsel was the addition of the word “demands” to his waiver of formal arraignment in which his request then read: “Demands . . . list of witnesses sworn before the grand jury, and pleads not guilty,” and he was furnished exactly what he demanded, that is—the witnesses sworn before the grand jury—no reversible error is shown. See Code Ann. § 27-1403 (Ga. L. 1966, pp. 430, 43Í); Prather v. State, 223 Ga. 721 (157 SE2d 734); Jones v. State, 224 Ga. 283 (161 SE2d 302). Whether or not the list of witnesses on whose testimony this charge against him is founded is the same as the witnesses sworn before the grand jury or the witnesses against him on the trial is not here decided. The error enumerated is not meritorious since it is clearly shown he was furnished the witnesses he requested.
2. Errors are enumerated on the allowance in evidence of a .38-caliber pistol as not property identified and the testimony
3. The evidence shows the defendant was involved in a shooting incident on the day alleged in the indictment. ■ The testimony of experts shows the deceased was killed by a bullet fired from a .38-caliber pistol which the defendant admits he owned but claimed it was being fired by another and he was firing a .22-caliber pistol. A witness testified that he did not have a weapon, did not shoot, and did not have the .38-caliber pistol' until after the shooting when the defendant gave him the pistol and suggested that they all admit shooting—he the .22-caliber pistol and this witness the .38-caliber pistol. The evidence was sufficient to authorize the jury to return a verdict of guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and none of the errors enumerated is meritorious.
Judgment affirmed.
070rehearing
On Motion for Rehearing.
The appellant contends the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of witnesses whose names had not been previously furnished to defendant’s counsel, and relies upon Code Ann.
Next, the statute specifically provides that the accused may demand “a list of the witnesses on whose testimony the charge against, him is founded,” whereas in the case at bar there was a substantial departure from the terms of the statute, and, to the contrary, the defendant’s counsel simply wrote upon the back of the indictment itself “demand copy of bill of indictment, list of witnesses sworn before the grand jury.” (Emphasis supplied). The State thereupon furnished a list of the witnesses sworn before the grand jury, and defendant complains because this list did not contain the names of all witnesses who were to be sworn against defendant during the trial of the case before the jury. If defendant had used the language of the statute, to wit, Code Ann. § 27-1403, in making his demand, a different question might arise, but when he limited his demand to those witnesses who were sworn before the grand jury, and did not demand a list of those “on whose testimony the charge against him is founded,” •he thereby restricted and limited the question now presented to this court.
Defendant’s motion for rehearing cites the recent case of Spell v. State, 225 Ga. 705-707 (171 SE2d 285), on this question, but in the cited case the defendant filed “a demand for a list of witnesses for the State” and did not limit the list, as defendant in the case at bar did, to those who testified before the grand jury. In effect, defendant is contending that when he demanded a list
The trial court properly decided this question adversely to appellant, in view of the fact that he was furnished a list of those witnesses that he demanded, to wit, a list of those witnesses sworn before the grand jury.
Rehearing' denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Johnson v. the State
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published