Edgin v. Talley

• Citation: 169 Ark. 862,276 S.W. 591
• Decision Date: 02 November 1925
• Docket Number: (No. 202.)
• Parties: EDGIN et al. v. TALLEY et al.
• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas

276 S.W. 591 169 Ark. 862 EDGIN et al.
v.
TALLEY et al. (No. 202.) Supreme Court of Arkansas. November 2, 1925.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Franklin County; James Cochran, Judge.

Actions by George Edgin and by Goldia Floyd, minors, by next friend, against Claud Talley and another. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed as to plaintiff Edgin, and reversed and remanded as to plaintiff Floyd.

George Edgin and Goldia Floyd, minors, by next friend, instituted separate actions at law against Claud Talley and C. G. Harman to recover damages for an assault.

George Edgin was a witness for himself. According to his testimony he was 20 years of age, and had lived at Ozark, Franklin county, Ark., nearly all of his life. On the

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Sunday in question he had driven in his automobile from Altus to Ozark with Goldia Floyd and some other companions for the purpose of attending a singing convention. After attending the singing convention at the courthouse, they drove on up town to a filling station at a moderate rate of speed, something like 8 or 10 miles an hour. George Edgin heard some one call for some one to stop, but did not pay any attention to it. There was a large number of people on the public square, and he was not impressed that any one was calling to him. The first he knew a bullet came through the car, hitting the windshield, and it commenced falling out. The bullet went between George Edgin and Goldia Floyd. Two shots were fired, but just one of them went through the car. The witness then immediately stopped the car, but did not know who did the shooting until Claud Talley came down to the car. Talley then arrested the witness and carried him to jail. He refused to let him make bond, but locked him up in the jail and kept him there something over an hour. No warrant of any kind was served on the witness. No charge was afterwards preferred against him. The witness offered no resistance whatever, and was not undertaking to assault or injure Talley in any way at the time. He knew that Talley was an officer, but did not know that he or any other officer wanted him for any purpose. Other witnesses testified in behalf of appellant George Edgin and corroborated his testimony. George Edgin testified that he was not drinking or drunk at the time he was arrested and several witnesses corroborated his testimony in this respect.

Goldia Floyd was a witness for herself. According to her testimony, she was 17 years of age, and lived at Dyer, Ark. She was in Ozark on the Sunday in question, and was riding on the same seat in the car with George Edgin. She did not hear anyone say, "Stop!" or anything of that kind. There were two shots fired. One of the shots went through the car, and the bullet went through her hair on the left side and burned it. The bullet also struck the windshield and broke the glass in it. The glass from the windshield struck her and caused an injury to her leg. She was confined to her bed about two weeks as the result of her injuries, and it was a month before she was able to take up her studies at school. She was rendered very nervous by her injuries, and this condition continued about two weeks. The physician who attended her described her injuries. He found one place just above her knee pretty badly cut and one cut below her knee. She was very nervous, and her nervous shock was caused from some injury.

According to the testimony of Claud Talley, one of the defendants, he lived in Ozark and had been deputy sheriff and jailer of Franklin county for 38 months before the Sunday in question. He...