Hinson v. State, 34678
| Decision Date | 09 June 1953 |
| Docket Number | No. 34678,No. 2,34678,2 |
| Citation | 88 Ga.App. 318,77 S.E.2d 63 |
| Parties | HINSON v. STATE |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
1. (a) A charge to the effect that, 'in contemplation of law, an operator of a motor vehicle on a public highway is under the influence of intoxicating liquor when he is so affected by intoxicating liquor as to make it less safe for him to operate such vehicle than it would be if he were not affected by such intoxicating liquor,' is a correct statement of the law on the trial of a defendant charged with operating an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquors.
(b) The testimony of a witness that 'the point at which I saw him driving on the public highway was in Fulton County, Georgia,' coupled with other evidence that the defendant was operating the automobile at the time of his arrest on a certain street of the City of Atlanta, is sufficient in the absence of any evidence to the contrary to authorize the jury to find that the defendant was operating the vehicle on a public street within the meaning of Code (Ann.Supp.) § 68-307.
2. The evidence was sufficient to support the verdict.
Kelley D. Hinson was tried and convicted in the Criminal Court of Fulton County for the offense, as stated in the accusation, of operating, 'an automobile on North Avenue, a public highway of said State and county, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.' The defendant was stopped by police officers of the City of Atlanta because a fender was bent down over the tire causing it to smoke, and making it impossible to turn the car to the left. Three police officers testified that the defendant was intoxicated at that time, and that he was alone in the car. In his statement to the jury, the defendant contended that a friend had been driving his automobile, had had an accident which bent the fender down and caused the defendant to hit his head so that he was in a groggy condition, and that, just before the arrest, the friend told him that police officers were following them and jumped out of the car.
Following his conviction, the defendant filed a petition to the Superior Court of Fulton County for the writ of certiorari, which was sanctioned and, after argument was overruled. The exception is to this judgment.
John L. Respess, Jr., and James R. Venable, Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.
Paul Webb, Sol. Gen., John I. Kelley, Solicitor, Robert O'Neil and Charlie O. Murphy, Atlanta, for defendant in error.
1. Error is assigned on the charge of the trial court as follows: 'I charge you further that in contemplation of law an operator of a motor vehicle on a public highway is under the influence of intoxicating liquor when he is so affected by intoxicating liquor as to make it less safe for him to operate such vehicle than it would be if he were not affected by such intoxicating liquor.' This is a correct statement of law. See James v. State, 45 Ga.App. 228(1), 164 S.E. 104. Nor is there merit in the contention that this portion of the charge assumes that the place where the defendant was arrested was a public highway when there was no evidence to that effect. The evidence was...
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Fountain v. Smith, 38575
...the exact condition of an intoxicated person cannot be depicted to the jury precisely as they appeared to the witness. Hinson v. State, 88 Ga.App. 318, 77 S.E.2d 63; Grier v. State, 72 Ga.App. 633, 34 S.E.2d 642; Donley v. State, 72 Ga.App. 429, 33 S.E.2d 925. Furthermore, in the instant ca......
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Harper v. State, 35510
...has been explicitly approved or applied in the following criminal cases: James v. State, 45 Ga.App. 228, 164 S.E. 104; Hinson v. State, 88 Ga.App. 318, 77 S.E.2d 63; Isenhower v. State, 88 Ga.App. 762, 77 S.E.2d 834; Hamilton v. State, 89 Ga. 159, 78 S.E.2d 875; Hart v. State, 26 Ga.App. 64......
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Sims v. State
...such intoxicating liquor.' Also following this latter rule and citing the same cases is that of James v. State, 45 Ga.App. 228 ; Hinson v. State, 88 Ga.App. 318 ; Isenhour v. State, 88 Ga.App. 762(3) 'It is true that following the foregoing excerpts from the charge complained of, the trial ......
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Burkhalter v. State, 46828
...782(2), 169 S.E. 253; Austin v. State, 47 Ga.App. 191, 170 S.E. 86; Johnson v. State, 69 Ga.App. 377, 25 S.E.2d 584; Hinson v. State, 88 Ga.App. 318, 77 S.E.2d 63; Bishop v. State, 92 Ga.App. 494, 88 S.E.2d 746; Bartley v. State, 95 Ga.App. 422(1), 98 S.E.2d 110; Wells v. State, 110 Ga.App.......