Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 08 February 1892 |
| Parties | Smith v. State. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Criminal Law—Confessions.
1. A self-criminating admission made to the sheriif by prisoner in jail in response to the sheriff's admonition, in these terms: "You know you are the man; they got your cap, and you might as well own up, "—is of doubtful admissibility, but, the other evidence establishing the prisoner's guilt beyond all question, a new trial ought not to be granted.
2. While it is the better practice to show by preliminary evidence that confessions intended to be proved were made freely and voluntarily, yet, where such evidence is omitted until after the confessions are received, it may then be introduced.
(Syllabus by the Court.)
Error from superior court, Newton county; J. S. Boynton, Judge.
Seaborn Smith was indicted for rape, and convicted. From an order overruling his motion for a new trial, he brings error. Affirmed.
J. F. Rogers, Capers Dickson, and G. W. Gleaton, for plaintiff in error.
E. Womack, Sol. Gen., and W. A. Little, Atty. Gen., by J. H. Lumpkin, for the State.
The accused was convicted of the crime of rape, and to the overruling of his motion for a new trial he excepted. The grounds of the motion were that the verdict was contrary to law and evidence; that the court erred in admitting a self-criminating admission, designated in the motion as a " confession, " made by the accused to the sheriff in response to an admonition by the latter as stated in the first head note; and that the court erred in permitting the "confession'' to be proved without first requiring the state to show it was freely and voluntarily made. It seems difficult to impress upon sheriffs and other officers the gross impropriety of improperly obtaining confessions from prisoners in their custody. In Green v. State, 15 S. E. Rep. 10, we took occasion to comment upon this subject. In view of what we there said, we would probably grant a new trial in the present case if there was any doubt whatever of the prisoner's guilt; but, the evidence against him being clear and overwhelming, we feel constrained to let the verdict stand. When the state seeks to introduce the confessions of a prisoner on trial, it would be better to begin by showing they were freely and voluntarily made, and not improperly induced by another, but when evidence of confessions has been received without objection by the accused or his counsel, and without requiring the preliminary proof indicated to be...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Adams v. State
-
Adams v. State
... ... caused the confession to be made, he can do so, and it will ... then be for the jury to determine, under all the evidence, ... whether or not the confession was free and voluntary ... Irby v. State, 95 Ga. 467, 20 S.E. 218; Dawson ... v. State, 59 Ga. 333; Smith v. State, 88 Ga ... 627, 15 S.E. 675. As to inculpatory statements, or even ... statements seeking to place the crime upon another, see ... Fuller v. State, 109 Ga. 809, 35 S.E. 298. In ... Inman v. State, 72 Ga. 269, no question was raised ... as to the admissibility of evidence, but ... ...
-
Fuller v. State
...statement made to an officer, simply because the prisoner was in his custody, under arrest, at the time. In the case of Smith v. State, 88 Ga. 627, 15 S. E. 675, it was decided that a self-criminating admission made to the sheriff by a prisoner in jail in response to the sheriff's admonitio......