Court Opinion

ID: 9591498
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:04:38.462287+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:45.771883
License: Public Domain

Gregory, Justice,
dissenting.
Both the “good” and the “bad” among us commit crimes. However, the law recognizes that a person whose character is such that he enjoys a good reputation where he lives and works is less likely to commit a crime than others. Upon proper proof of one’s reputation the trial judge is authorized to charge the jury as follows:
“Members of the jury, I charge you that in criminal cases, the defendant is allowed, if he sees fit, to offer evidence as to his general good character, and when such evidence is offered, it is the duty of the jury to take that testimony, along with all other testimony in the case, in determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Good character is a positive, substantive fact, and may of itself be sufficient to generate in the minds of a jury a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. It is the duty of the jury to take any evidence of general good character along with all the other evidence in the case and, if in doing so, the jury should entertain a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant, they should acquit; nevertheless, if the jury should believe the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it would be their duty to convict, notwithstanding the evidence as to general good character.” Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, Vol. 2, Criminal Cases, by Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia, p. 47.
As I see it, the defendant’s good reputation is sufficient to win an acquittal against a mountain of evidence of his guilt. But, I believe it is only where a defendant’s character has generated a good reputation that the jury should be so charged. Georgia Criminal Trial Practice, Sec. 21-9, William W. Daniel, 1984 edition.
In this case the defendant testified as to his certain acts and activities generally regarded as good things to do. I would hold that *370such evidence, if properly admitted, would authorize the trial judge to charge the jury concerning credibility of witnesses as follows:
Decided May 22, 1985.
Harry D. Dixon, Jr., District Attorney, Richard E. Currie, Assistant District Attorney, for appellant.
Jones & Solomon, M. Theodore Solomon, William J. Edgar, for appellee.
“You are made by law the sole and exclusive judges of the credibility or reliability of the witnesses, and it is for you to determine what witness or witnesses you will believe, and those which you will not believe, if there are some you do not believe.
“In passing upon their credibility, you may consider all the facts and circumstances of the case, the witnesses’ manner of testifying, their intelligence, their interest or lack of interest, their means and opportunity for knowing the facts to which they testify, the nature of the facts to which they testify, the probability or improbability of their testimony, and of the occurrences to which they testify; and, you may also consider their personal credibility insofar as it may legitimately appear from the trial of this case.” (Emphasis supplied.) Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, Vol. 2, Criminal Cases, by Council of Superior Court Judges, p. 11.