Case Name: Waters v. The State
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1940-06-17
Citations: 62 Ga. App. 720
Docket Number: 28282
Parties: Waters v. The State.
Judges: MacIntyre and Ga/rdner, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 62
Pages: 720–720

Head Matter:
28282.
Waters v. The State.
Decided June 17, 1940.
B. N. Odum, U. H. Elders, for plaintiff in error.
B. L. Dawson, solicitor-general, contra.

Opinion:
Broyles, C. J.
"Motions for continuance, made at the term at which the indictment is found, while addressed to the discretion of the court, stand upon a different footing from such motions made at a subsequent term. In such cases the discretion of the court should be liberally exercised in favor of a fair trial, no less than that the trial should be speedy; and every facility should be afforded a defendant for presenting his defense as fully as he might be able to do were the case tried at a subsequent term. Reasonable opportunity for the defendant to prepare his defense should not be sacrificed in the interest of speed." Brooks v. State, 3 Ga. App. 458 (3) (60 S. E. 211).
Under the ruling quoted, and the facts of the instant case, the denial of the motion for a continuance, based upon the absence of two material witnesses for the defense, who lived in Tattnall County, Georgia, and were temporarily in Florida, was error; and that error rendered the further proceedings in the case nugatory.
Judgment reversed.
MacIntyre and Ga/rdner, JJ., concur.