Barronton v. State, 32717.
| Decision Date | 22 September 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 32717.,32717. |
| Citation | 55 S.E.2d 252,80 Ga.App. 44 |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
| Parties | BARRONTON. v. STATE. |
John Barronton was indicted for murder and he filed a motion for change of venue on ground of danger of lynching or other violence and impossibility of obtaining impartial jury in the county.
The Superior Court of Crisp County, O. T. Gower, J., entered a judgment denying the motion and defendant brought error.
The Court of Appeals, Townsend, J., held that denial of motion was not reversible error in view of conflicting evidence in support of and opposition to the motion, and affirmed the judgment.
Syllabus by the Court
Where, as here, the evidence on the question of a change of venue is in conflict, the judgment of the trial court denying the defendant's motion will not be reversed, it otherwise appearing to be without error, and it not appearing to constitute an abuse of the discretion of the trial court.
John Barronton, the plaintiff in error, and his son James were indicted in Crisp County Superior Court on a charge of murder. They filed motions for change of venue, which motions were heard together and which alleged as grounds thereof that an impartial jury could not be selected within the county, and that the accused would either be lynched or there would be clanger to him of serious bodily injury if the case were brought to trial in Crisp County, and especially if a verdict finding a less offense than murder were returned against him. The defendant's evidence included his sworn petition, alleging that a "vast and untold amount of false, prejudicial, unwarranted and unfounded gossip, rumors and propaganda and such poisonous campaign [had] been carried on for the sole purpose of preventing him from receiving a fair and impartial trial * * * that newspapers, radio and other news disseminating agencies are [inflating] any bit of news * * * that his wife and daughter were arrested in consequence without legal justification * * * that by reason of threats communicated to him * * * he believes that he is in imminent danger of mob violence", and other allegations of the same character.
James Barronton's affidavit stated that a fellow prisoner had informed him that "he had heard that if they were tried in Crisp County they would not live to set foot on the ground."
Identical affidavits of ten witnesses stated that there had been much talk that if the defendants "were not speedily tried and convicted, this matter will be taken in hand by the aggrieved parties * * *." Certain newspaper accounts of the shootingwere also introduced, none of which showed any particular animus in the matter.
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English v. State, 33235
...erroneous.' Broxton v. State, 24 Ga.App. 31, 99 S.E. 635; Goumas v. State, 44 Ga.App. 210, 160 S.E. 682.' See also Barronton v. State, 80 Ga.App. 44, 55 S.E.2d 252; Garrett v. State, 80 Ga.App. 118, 55 S.E.2d 672. The action of the trial judge in denying the motion for change of venue, unde......
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Blevins v. State
...will not be reversed. Broxton v. State, 24 Ga.App. 31, 99 S.E. 635; Goumas v. State, 44 Ga.App. 210, 160 S.E. 682; Barronton v. State, 80 Ga.App. 44, 55 S.E.2d 252; Garrett v. State, 80 Ga.App. 118, 55 S.E.2d 672; English v. State, 82 Ga.App. 351, 61 S.E.2d 152.' Crane v. State, 94 Ga.App. ......
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Barronton v. State
...55 S.E.2d 252 80 Ga.App. 44 BARRONTON v. STATE. No. 32717.Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2.September 22, 1949 ... ... Syllabus by the Court ... Where, ... as here, the evidence on the question of a change of venue is ... in conflict, the judgment of the trial court denying the ... defendant's motion ... ...
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Crane v. State, 36214
...will not be reversed. Broxton v. State, 24 Ga.App. 31, 99 S.E. 635; Goumas v. State, 44 Ga.App. 210, 160 S.E. 682; Barronton v. State, 80 Ga.App. 44, 55 S.E.2d 252; Garrett v. State, 80 Ga.App. 118, 55 S.E.2d 672; English v. State, 82 Ga.App. 351, 61 S.E.2d 3. Under an application of the ru......