Nelson v. State
Nelson v. State
Opinion of the Court
Special ground 4 of the amended motion for new trial complains that the charge of the court, that “The State in this case contends that this defendant, acting conjunctively with Tommie Reed who was in the jail at the time, and acting in concert and in conspiracy with the negro, Tommie Reed, etc.,” was prejudicial to him, in that the indictment did not
This charge was not erroneous, as contended, for the reason that the indictment did not expressly charge the defendant with conspiracy. Harris v. State, 188 Ga. 752 (4 S. E. 2d, 651); Johnson v. State, 188 Ga. 773 (4 S. E. 2d, 639). The defendant and Tommie Reed were jointly-indicted, and the State was contending that the robbery was committed by the concerted action of both. There was sufficient evidence that the robbery was a joint criminal enterprise to authorize the court to submit this contention of the State to the jury.
Ground 5 insists that the evidence showed that everything that the defendant did in connection with the crime charged against him was under the direction of Tommie Reed, and that the court erred in failing to charge the jury that, if they “believed the defendant acted under the reasonable fears for his life, or bodily harm at the hands of Tommie Reed, and did not act freely and voluntarily, but under intimidation and duress from Tommie Reed, then he would not be guilty as charged in the indictment.” No request was made for such a charge.
While the evidence in this case authorized the jury to find that in the robbery and escape the defendant acted mainly under the direction of Tommie Reed, neither the State’s evidence nor the defendant’s statement would require a conclusion that the defendant acted under compulsion or through intimidation, and it was not erroneous to fail to charge, without request, the principle of law set out in this ground.
Ground 6 shows that the defendant was indicted by the grand jury under the Code, § 26-2501, and it is contended that it was erroneous for the court to fail to charge that the jury could not convict the defendant under the indictment unless they believed beyond a reasonable doubt that the taking of the billfold containing $40 and the key ring, set out in the indictment, from J. R. Meeks was done with the intention on thé part of the defendant to steal the articles named. It is pointed out
In Sledge v. State, 99 Ga. 685 (26 S. E. 2d, 756), it was held: “There can be no robbery without an intent to steal; and hence it is legally impossible for the trial judge to give to the jury correct instructions upon the trial of a robbery case which leave entirely out of view the question of felonious intent. It is not one of those collateral matters concerning which the court is only required to instruct the jury upon request, but it is of the very substance of the offense, and an omission so to instruct the jury would enable them to convict the accused without finding the felonious intent.”
In Rutherford v. State, 183 Ga. 301 (188 S. E. 442), this court, in answering certified questions by the Court of Appeals, cited the Sledge case as authority for the statement that “an intent to steal is a substantive element in the commission of the offense of robbery,” and that an instruction in the language of the Code is not a sufficient definition of the offense for the guidance of the jury. In the Rutherford case, the statement was made that, “Whether or not a failure to charge in specific terms regarding an intent to steal may be held .‘reversible error’ will depend upon the circumstances of the particular case, including the issues developed by the evidence, and the defendant’s statement, if any.”
In the present case, the defendant contends that the omission in the charge was reversible error, while the State insists that, under the statement made in the Rutherford case, the failure was not reversible error.
In every case where a substantial right of a defendant has been denied him by the court’s failure to charge, a new trial must be granted, unless it is apparent that the error was harmless to him. Under the circumstances of this case, it was a question solely for the jury’s determination as to the intent of the defendant in complying with the instructions of Tommie Reed in taking the sheriff’s keys and billfold. While, as pointed out in division 2, the circumstances were not such as to demand the conclusion, as
Ground 8 shows that the defendant was indicted for robbery “by open force and violence and by intimidation,” and that the court properly instructed the jury on the punishment for robbery by open force and violence, and instructed them that they might find the defendant guilty of robbery by intimidation, but that nowhere in the charge did the court instruct the jury as to the- punishment for robbery by intimidation. It is insisted that this was an expression of opinion to the jury that the court did not believe the defendant guilty of the offense of robbery by intimidation, and was prejudicial tp the defendant.
Ground 9 assigns error on the charge on robbery by intimidation, wherein the court charged that the jury might find the defendant guilty of robbery by intimidation, but followed the instruction with, a statement that, if they believed beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty as alleged and charged by the State, they should set his punishment, and the punishment stated was that applicable to robbery by open force and violence, thus erroneously instructing the jury that the penalty for robbery by intimidation is the same as that for robbery by open force and violence.
■ Ground 7 may also be considered in connection with grounds 8 and 9, since ground 7, which is an elaboration of the general grounds, complains that the verdict of the jury, finding the defendant guilty of robbery by force and recommending mercy, was
The definition of robbery in our Code, § 26-2501, is as follows: “Robbery is the wrongful, fraudulent, and violent taking of money, goods, or chattels from the person of another by force or intimidation, without the consent of the owner, or the sudden snatching, taking, or carrying away any money, goods, chattels, or anything of value from the owner or person in possession or control thereof without the consent of the owner or person in possession or control thereof.” By the acts of 1937, pp. 490, 491 (Code, Ann. Supp., § 26-2502), robbery by open force or violence was made punishable “by death, unless the jury recommends mercy, in which event punishment shall be imprisonment in the penitentiary for life: Provided, however, the jury in all cases may recommend that the defendant be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than 4 years nor longer than 20 years, in the discretion of the court.” The punishment for robbery by intimidation, or without using force and violence, is imprisonment and labor in the penitentiary for not less than 2 years nor more than 20 years. Code, § 26-2503.
Since the defendant was indicted under the first part of § 26-2501, robbery by sudden snatching is not involved in this case, although it may be noted that such offense was formerly larceny from the person and not robbery. Spencer v. State, 106 Ga. 692 (32 S. E. 849). In 1903 the General Assembly amended the definition of robbery to include robbery by sudden snatching, so that under the present law the offense of robbery may be committed by three methods, that is, (1) by force, (2) by intimidation, and (3) by sudden snatching. See Hickey v. State, 125 Ga. 147 (53 S. E. 1026); Pride v. State, 124 Ga. 792 (53 S. E. 192).
The former decisions of this court are not entirely without conflict as to the difference between robbery by force and robbery by intimidation. One of the most frequently cited cases is that of Long v. State, 12 Ga. 293. In that case, at page 315, the court stated: “When the Code speaks of force, it means actual
There have been some cases in which a very small degree of force has been held to constitute robbery by force (for example, see Long v. State, 54 Ga. 564; Smith v. State, 117 Ga. 320, 43 S. E. 736, 97 Am. St. R. 165; Moran v. State, 125 Ga. 33, 53 S. E. 806), and at least one case in which it was held that the evidence supported a verdict of robbery by force, where there was no force used except the constructive force of intimidation (Clements v. State, 84 Ga. 660, 11 S. E. 505, 20 Am. St. R. 385). The fundamental principles quoted from the Long case have never been overruled, however, and are binding on this court.
In the present case, the evidence discloses that, while another person pointed a pistol at the sheriff, the defendant reached his hand in the sheriff’s pocket and removed his billfold. Under the definition of “force” in Long v. State, supra, such taking by the defendant was not robbery by force. There was no personal violence employed, nor was there any struggle on the part of the
If further consideration need be given to determine that the facts of this case do not make a case of robbery by force and violence, we have but to give consideration to our Code sections defining robbery and fixing the punishment. While the definition of robbery (§ 26-2501) is limited to “force or intimidation,” the General Assembly declared that “robbery by open force or violence’.’ should be punished by death or otherwise as provided in § 26:2501 (Code, Ann. Supp.). By the use of the word “open,” the General Assembly provided that the force or violence should not be secret, hidden, or disguised, but the force or violence must be evident, existing and without concealment. See Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed.), p. 1705. No such force or violence as fixed by the General Assembly is shown, and the State’s case must rest on the charge of robbery by intimidation.
It was therefore error requiring the grant of a new trial for the court not to charge the jury as to the punishment for robbery by intimidation, and to so confuse the charge that the jury might have believed that the punishment for robbery by intimidation and robbery by force or violence is the same. Grant v. State, 125 Ga. 259 (2) (54 S. E. 191).
Since, under the ruling in this division and in division 3, a new trial must be granted the defendant, it is unnecessary to discuss the general grounds of the motion for new trial, except as such grounds are discussed in this division.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.