Court Opinion

ID: 9575419
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:13:35.720595+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:10.680729
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in Divisions 1 through 6 and in Division 7 (b) but respectfully dissent with respect to Division 7 (a).
The evidence in question was not submitted for the purpose of impeaching Wayne and in fact he never testified. OCGA § 24-9-83 refers to impeachment by contradictory statements previously made by a witness as to matters relevant to his testimony and to the case. This is a mandatory requirement and if the alleged contradictory statement is not relevant then the evidence is not admissible. Grant v. Hart, 197 Ga. 662, 677 (7) (30 SE2d 271) (1944); Hudgins v. Bloodworth & Co., 109 Ga. 197, 198 (1) (34 SE 364) (1899). Further, it is not competent to ask a witness what he had sworn on a former occasion, with a view to impeach him, if his testimony on that occasion is itself inadmissible in evidence. Mitchum v. State, 11 Ga. 615, 635 (8) (1852).
The evidence as to Wayne’s conviction was not relevant to the case and was inadmissible as such. See State v. Rocco, 259 Ga. 463, 467 (1) (384 SE2d 183) (1989). It did not serve to impeach defendant because it had no materiality or bearing on the issues in the case and because it showed that there was at most an appearance of contradiction. In actuality the pre-trial statement and the true circumstances were compatible and not contradictory. A change in circumstances had occurred between the time of statement and the trial.
Because I cannot determine as a matter of law that the admission of the evidence did not adversely affect the verdict, that evidence be*650ing that Wayne had committed a burglary, I must conclude that it was harmful error since Wayne’s role vis-a-vis the dog’s disposition was crucial. White v. Taylor, 157 Ga. App. 328, 329 (277 SE2d 321) (1981). The judgment should be reversed.
Decided July 11, 1990
Rehearing denied July 31, 1990 — Cert, applied for.
Chambers, Mabry, McClelland & Brooks, Genevieve L. Frazier, for appellant.
Robert A. Falanga, Jesse E. Barrow III, for appellees.
I am authorized to state that Chief Judge Carley, Judge Birdsong and Judge Sognier join in this opinion.