Court Opinion

ID: 9853614
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:51:12.218221+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:56.254079
License: Public Domain

*511McMurray, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent from the holding reached in Division 3 of the majority opinion as I would hold that the trial court did not commit reversible error and should be affirmed.
When the State’s attorney asked the defendant whether the members of his family had “been in trouble for marijuana,” defendant responded that he did not know. Defendant thereupon made a motion for a mistrial which the trial court overruled. The cross-examination proceeded as follows: “Q. Do you know Willie Hill? A. Yes sir. Q. And who is he? A. That’s my oldest son. Q. Do you know Ray Hill? A. That’s right. Q. And who is he? A. That’s my son. Q. Do you know Fred Hill, Jr.? A. That’s my son. Q. Do you know Jackie Hill? A. Yeah. I know them all. Q. Where is Jackie today? A. I don’t know. Q. Isn’t he running from the law on some drug charges pending? A. I — He left here.” This line of questioning was then abandoned and inquiries were made regarding the substantive elements of the offense charged. Later, however, the State’s attorney returned to the “members of the family” theme: “Q. Willie, Cecil, Ray. A. So what about them? Q. Have they been in any trouble for marijuana? A. No. Cecil ain’t. Willie Ruth ain’t. Q. How about the other two, Willie and Ray? A. Well, they pretend to have them in trouble, but, on a sale, but they ain’t never, they never did nothing with Ray. Ray ain’t nothing but a big drunkard. Know he can’t sell no reefer. Q. What about Ray, excuse me, Willie? Excuse me. I couldn’t hear. What did you say about those two fellows? Have they been in trouble for marijuana before? A. Yeah. Q. How about Jackie? A. Yeah; Jackie has been in it. Q. How about Fred, Jr.? A. Yeah; he’s been in it.” These questions were asked and answered without objection. I would hold, therefore, that the earlier admission of substantially the same testimony is not harmful error. Swink v. State, 225 Ga. 717, 718 (3) (171 SE2d 304); Kent v. State, 128 Ga. App. 132, 134 (2) (195 SE2d 770). See Cox v. State, 160 Ga. App. 891 (1) (289 SE2d 266).
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Deen joins in this dissent.