Court Opinion

ID: 9849478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:40:43.471845+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:02.596643
License: Public Domain

*821Banke, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur with Division 1 of the majority opinion. With regard to Division 2,1 concur in the holding that there was no evidence warranting a charge on the provisions of Code Ann. § 26-1103 (b). Although the defendant denied having any "intention to shoot,” he admitted shooting the victim four times. Thus we are not faced with a situation where the defendant admits the act but denies any intention to kill, as was the case in Jackson v. State, 143 Ga. App. 734 (240 SE2d 180) (1977). See also Jackson v. State, 234 Ga. 549 (216 SE2d 834) (1975).
A careful reading of these two cases convinces me that we seemingly are tending to obscure further for the bench and bar a rather confused mix of legal principles which we have unnecessarily intertwined. I refer to the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter and its interaction with the affirmative defense of self-defense as it appears in both Jackson cases, supra, as well as the case before us. Language in both of these cases, if not clarified, will make it difficult for trial attorneys and trial judges to properly distinguish the difference between self-defense, on the one hand, and involuntary manslaughter on the other. The principles involved require some separation, as we indicated in Tate v. State, 123 Ga. App. 18 (2) (179 SE2d 307) (1970). In that case, the defendant shot his butcher knife-wielding wife in a domestic quarrel, claiming self-defense at trial, and complaining on appeal that the trial court erred in refusing to charge on involuntary manslaughter. This court said "[I]f the defendant did not actually intend to kill his wife, as disclosed by his unsworn statement, he nevertheless committed an aggravated assault. . . under Code Ann. § 26-1302, unless he acted in self-defense, in which event his act would show no offense. Thus he was not engaged in the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony, which is the felony offense of involuntary manslaughter (Code Ann. § 26-1103 (a)), and he was not engaged in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner, which is the misdemeanor offense of involuntary manslaugther (Code Ann. § 26-1103 (b)).” (Emphasis *822supplied.)
In the instant case, the defendant was, by his version, pointing a loaded weapon at his adversary. This would be permissible if done in self-defense. The discharge of the weapon could also have been accidental. Neither of these issues are before us. Noticing them, however, is useful to the compartmentalization necessary for a proper analysis. Driving one’s car on the state’s highways is a lawful act. To do so at excessive speed, recklessly, or while intoxicated is to do so in an unlawful manner. Target shooting of a rifle is often a lawful act, but one which can be made unlawful by statute or ordinance in some circumstances. Target shooting where prohibited would be an unlawful act other than a felony. Intentionally shooting another person, on the other hand is never lawful unless done in self-defense, in which case it is no crime at all.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.