Court Opinion

ID: 9597071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:55:15.052189+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:36.684158
License: Public Domain

Pannell, Presiding Judge,
dissenting in part and concurring specially in part.
1. I dissent from the ruling of the majority contained in Paragraphs 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the majority *373opinion, and the judgment of reversal based thereon.
2. I also concur specially with Divisions 11 and 12 of the majority opinion, as the wrong reason is given therein for reaching the conclusions that the failure to charge the principle stated in each of the enumerations of error was not error, although the correct result was reached.
My views on these positions are as follows:
1. This ruling is controlled by the full bench decision of this court in Merneigh v. State, 123 Ga. App. 485 (2) (181 SE2d 498), which the majority seek to have overruled and which, contrary to the contention of the majority opinion, was in my opinion approved by a vote of 5 to 4. Presiding Judge Hall concurred specially as to Division 1 of the opinion, but voted for an affirmance. He, therefore, of necessity approved Division 2 of the opinion, otherwise, he would have dissented from the judgment of affirmance. The writer of this dissent also concurred specially as to Division 1 in that opinion and expressly concurred in Division 2. Judge Quillian also concurred specially, his reasons not appearing; but he voted for affirmance and did not dissent. Judge Evans dissented as to Division 2 of the opinion in that case, and Chief Judge Bell and Judges Deen and Whitman, joined in that dissent.
I am still of the opinion that the decision in Division 2 of the opinion in Merneigh v. State, supra, is correct.
To me there seems to be an analogy to the privilege one has in not testifying to anything that would incriminate oneself, that is, testify against oneself, within the meaning of Code § 38-417; Code § 38-1205, and Article 2, Section 1, Par. 6 of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, and the rule here that a married woman is competent but not compellable to testify against her husband. In the former situation, this court in a case written by Judge Deen (Chastain v. State, 113 Ga. App. 601 (3) (149 SE2d 195)) held: "The privilege against self-incrimination cannot be asserted in advance of the questions actually propounded in the examination or hearing.” Presiding Judge Nichols and Judge Hall concurred in that decision. If my analogy be correct, that case is also controlling here. I, therefore, dissent from the judgment of reversal on that ground in the present case.
I am authorized to state that Judges Quillian, Stolz *374and Marshall concur in this dissent.
(a) The failure to charge on the inequality and physical strength of the defendant and the deceased without request, if error, is harmless error. This charge related to a defense to the charge of murder and the fears of a reasonable man. The defendant was acquitted of the charge of murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Under these circumstances, the failure to charge as complained of was harmless error. See Alexander v. State, 118 Ga. 26, 28 (44 SE 851); Barnes v. State, 24 Ga. App. 372, 373 (6) (100 SE 788).
(b) The failure to charge without request on defense of habitation was not error for the reason that the habitation involved was not'the habitation of the defendant; therefore, no such charge was required. Brown v. State, 8 Ga. App. 382 (5) (69 SE 45); Day v. State, 133 Ga. 434 (1) (66 SE 250).
In my opinion, the majority reaches the right result-in Divisions 11 and 12, but for the wrong reason as expressed by Judge Stolz in his dissent; but in my opinion, this "wrong reason” for affirming the failures to charge as complained of in these grounds does not make the affirmance error, if the affirmances are correct for other reasons, as demonstrated above. I, therefore, concur specially in Divisions 11 and 12.
I would affirm the judgment of conviction.
I am authorized to state that Judges Quillian and Marshall concur in this division and a judgment of affirmance.