Sikes v. State
| Decision Date | 24 April 1948 |
| Docket Number | 31950. |
| Citation | 47 S.E.2d 677,76 Ga.App. 883 |
| Parties | SIKES v. STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. Where the good character of the defendant is put in issue by the defendant himself in his statement to the jury, evidence as to his general bad character with respect to the particular trait may be shown in rebuttal; but in so doing it is not permissible to prove specific acts, except for the purpose of impeaching knowingly false statements made by the defendant himself to the jury.
2. New trial for error in admitting testimony of penal charges against the defendant over the objection that the written indictment and record of the trial was the best evidence of the same.
3. As the case will go back for a new trial, the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict will not be passed upon.
H H. Elders, of Reidsville, for plaintiff in error.
R L. Dawson, Sol. Gen., of Ludowici, for defendant in error.
1. The defendant was convicted of larceny after trust. He assigned error on the overruling of his motion for a new trial. In his statement the defendant said:
The state contended that by the above quoted portion of the defendant's statement the defendant had offered his good character as one of his defenses. We agree with the state in this contention. See Barnes v State, 24 Ga.App. 372, 373(3-5), 100 S.E. 788; Knighton v. State, 40 Ga.App. 489, 150 S.E. 432. 'Where the good character of a defendant is put in issue, evidence as to general bad character with respect to the particular trait may be shown in rebuttal; but in so doing it is not permissible to prove specific acts, except on cross-examination for the purpose of testing the knowledge of the defendant's witnesses, and except for the purpose of impeaching knowingly false statements made by the defendant himself of the jury or by his witnesses on cross-examination.' Mimbs v. State, 189 Ga. 189, 192, 5 S.E.2d 770, 772, et. cit. The prior quoted statement by Justice Jenkins we take to be the most accurate statement of the Georgia law on the subject to which it pertains.
2. A witness for the state testified that he knew Jimps Sikes and had known him for about 30 years. The state asked the witness: 'Is this the same J. P. Sikes who was tried for cow stealing?' Answer: 'Yes.' To this answer counsel for the defendant objected on the grounds that the defendant had not put his character in issue and that, if the defendant had been tried for cow-stealing, there was higher and better evidence of the same in the indictment under which he was tried. The court overruled the objection.
We have already ruled on the first ground presented and have held that the defendant did put his character in issue by his statement, and the court did not err in overruling the objection on this ground.
When the good character of the defendant is put in issue by the defendant himself...
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Walker v. State
...authenticated transcript. See Heflin v. State, 88 Ga. 151, 158, 14 S.E. 112 (1891). See generally OCGA § 24–5–31; Sikes v. State, 76 Ga.App. 883, 885(2), 47 S.E.2d 677 (1948). But the State can introduce witness testimony to establish the defendant's perjured testimony in the former proceed......
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Brown v. State, 43614
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...of records of judicial proceedings ... shall be admitted as primary evidence, when properly authenticated.”); Sikes v. State, 76 Ga.App. 883, 885(2), 47 S.E.2d 677 (1948) (providing that the highest and best evidence of a judicial proceeding is the record of the trial). Moreover, “[t]he tri......
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