Case Name: BRAZELL v. THE STATE
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1976-10-22
Citations: 140 Ga. App. 340
Docket Number: 52965
Parties: BRAZELL v. THE STATE.
Judges: Webb and Smith, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 140
Pages: 340–341

Head Matter:
52965.
BRAZELL v. THE STATE.
Argued October 5, 1976
Decided October 22, 1976
Rehearing denied November 4, 1976
Jones, Osteen & Jones, Charles M. Jones, Billy N. Jones, for appellant.

Opinion:
Deen, Presiding Judge.
This appeal from a conviction for cattle theft is on the sole ground that the court allowed a purported confession to be considered by the jury without first making an affirmative ruling on its voluntariness, and without setting forth specific findings of fact and conclusions of law. "The trial judge need not make formal findings of fact or write an opinion, but it must clearly appear from the record that he made a primary finding of voluntariness before the confession was introduced. Hilliard v. State, 128 Ga. App. 157, 158 (195 SE2d 772); Sims v. Georgia, 385 U. S. 538 (87 SC 639, 17 LE2d 593). The court heard evidence in the absence of the jury on the circumstances and contents of the defendant's incriminatory statement, and ruled: "The court finds that it was freely and voluntarily made, and the court's going to admit it as a statement." No error appears.
Judgment affirmed.
Webb and Smith, JJ., concur.
John W. Underwood, District Attorney, Dupont K. Cheney, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.