Georgia Court of Appeals, 1970

Pritchard v. State

Pritchard v. State
Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided November 9, 1970 · Bell, Quillian, Whitman
178 S.E.2d 808; 122 Ga. App. 780; 1970 Ga. App. LEXIS 1034 (South Eastern Reporter, Second Series)

Pritchard v. State

Opinion

Bell, Chief Judge.

Appellant was convicted of burglary (Count 1). At trial he submitted evidence of alibi. The trial court gave the jury an instruction that the burden was on the defendant to establish his alibi by a preponderance of the evidence to the reasonable satisfaction of the jury. A charge on alibi substan *781 tially the same as this one was held to be harmful error in Parham v. State, 120 Ga. App. 723 (171 SE2d 911). The recent case of Thornton v. State, 226 Ga. 837, infers that an instruction which shifts the burden of proof to the defendant to prove alibi by a preponderance of the evidence is harmful and constitutes reversible error.

Argued September 8, 1970 Decided November 9, 1970. Scott & Alexander, Guy B. Scott, Jr., for appellant. Thomas W. Ridgway, District Attorney, for appellee.

Judgment reversed.

Quillian and Whitman, JJ., concur.

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