Reodick v. State, 15815.
| Decision Date | 13 May 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 15815.,15815. |
| Citation | 42 S.E.2d 742 |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
| Parties | REODICK. v. STATE. |
Error from Superior Court, Bibb County; A. M. Anderson, Judge.
H. L. Reddick was convicted of murder, and he brings error.
Affirmed.
J. Millard Jackson, of Macon, and W. S. Mann, of McRae, for plaintiff in error.
Chas. H. Garrett, Sol. Gen, of Macon, M. H. Boyer, Sol. Gen, of Hawkinsville, Eugene Cook, Atty. Gen. and Margaret Hartson, of Atlanta, for defendant in error.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court.
The defendant was indicted for murder. He freely and voluntarily confessed to several witnesses commission of the crime for which he was indicted. On the trial he offered no evidence and made no statement, and was found guilty without recommendation. Exception is to the order overruling a motion for new trial. No special assignments of error are made, and counsel insist only upon a review of the case on the usual general grounds. Held:
1. "A confession alone, uncorroborated by any other evidence, shall not justify a conviction." Code, § 38-420.
(a) However, proof of the corpus delicti is sufficient corroboration of a free and voluntary confession. Wimberly v. State, 105 Ga. 188, 31 S.E. 162; Holsenbake v. State, 45 Ga. 43; Daniel v. State, 63 Ga. 339; Paul v. State, 65 Ga. 152; Williams v. State, 69 Ga. 11, 14; Schaefer v. State, 93 Ga. 177, 18 S.E. 552.
(b) The essential elements in the proof of the corpus delicti in a case of homicide are: that the person alleged in the indictment to have been killed is actually dead; and that his death was caused or accomplished by violence, or other direct criminal agency of some other human being. Warren v. State, 153 Ga. 354, 361, 112 S.E. 283; Graham v. State, 183 Ga. 881, 886, 189 S.E. 910; 1 Whar. Cr. L. (11th Ed.) § 347.
(c) Where a dead body is found with injuries apparently sufficient to cause death, under circumstances which exclude an inference of accident or suicide, the criminal agency is sufficiently shown. Thomas v. State, 67 Ga. 460(6); Langston v. State, 151 Ga. 388, 390, 391, 106 S. E. 903; Taylor v. State, 155 Ga. 785, 794, 118 S.E. 675; Sligh v. State, 171 Ga. 92, 93(3), 154 S.E. 799; Graham v. State, 183 Ga. 881, 886, 189 S.E. 910; Pulliam v. State, 196 Ga. 782, 786(1), 28 S.E.2d 139.
2. Under the foregoing principles --where the body of a deceased was found about 150 yards from a paved highway, lying 10 or 12 feet from a truck loaded with peaches, with the back of the skull crushed, and there were indications that the throat had been cut, and evidence of several stab wounds in the back, and blood was found on the inside of the truck opposite the driver's seat, and a suitcase near the body with clothing scattered around, and a bloody hat with holes in it corresponding to holes made in the skull was lying by the body; and where the body, although badly mutilated by animals, was identified through personal papers found in the clothing in the form of letters and a driver's license, together with positive identification by the deceased's children of a ring and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Spencer v. State, A89A1367
...§ 24-3-53, but only by proof of the corpus delicti. Nation v. State, 180 Ga.App. 460, 461(1), 349 S.E.2d 479 (1986); Reddick v. State, 202 Ga. 209(1), 42 S.E.2d 742 (1947). A confession is sufficient corroboration for the testimony of an accomplice. Vaughn v. State, 139 Ga.App. 565, 568(1),......
-
Wright v. State
...a conviction. Code, § 38-420; Burns v. State, 188 Ga. 22(3), 2 S.E.2d 627; Moore v. State, 193, Ga. 877, 20 S.E.2d 403; Rddick v. State, 202 Ga. 209, 42 S.E.2d 742, and cases there For the reasons stated in the preceding divisions of this opinion, the judgment complained of is not erroneous......
-
Reed v. State
...them, together with forensic expert's conclusions based on dental records, held sufficient to identify the victims); Reddick v. State, 202 Ga. 209(2), 42 S.E.2d 742 (1947) (corpus delicti proven in part by the ring worn by the victim and identified by the victim's children). 5. Contrary to ......
-
Jackson v. State, 18409
...corpus delicti. Compare Wrisper v. State, 193 Ga. 157, 161, 17 S.E.2d 714; Jester v. State, 193 Ga. 202, 17 S.E.2d 736; Reddick v. State, 202 Ga. 209, 42 S.E.2d 742. 2. The participation of the defendant in the homicide was sought to be proved entirely by circumstantial evidence. There was ......