Court Opinion

ID: 9580094
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:01:46.15058+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:01.705026
License: Public Domain

Ingram, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent to the judgment of the court in this case primarily because, without expressly saying so, the majority has greatly weakened the doctrine of Bacon v. State, supra. I submit that by disposing of this case through the use of the harmless error doctrine, the court is inviting district attorneys to place in evidence any number of independent crimes and then justify doing so by urging that even if it is error it is harmless. Where do we stop? The prosecution in this case got three out of four safely in evidence. Would the result be the same with two out of four, or only one out of four? I cannot honestly say that this jury was not significantly influenced by the illegal admission of this evidence of an independent crime. If you doubt that the Bacon doctrine is being eroded, read the following cases: Cf. Rosborough v. State, 209 Ga. 362 (2) (72 SE2d 717) (1954); Howard v. State, 211 Ga. 186 (3) (84 SE2d 455) (1954); Wilson v. State, 212 Ga. 412 (2) (93 SE2d 354) (1956); Wood v. State, 224 Ga. 121 (5) (160 SE2d 368) (1968) with Campbell v. State, 234 Ga. 130 (214 SE2d 656) (1975); Allanson v. State, 235 Ga. 584 (1) (221 SE2d 3) (1975); and Fears v. State, 236 Ga. 660 (1) (225 SE2d 4) (1976). These cases show a remarkable trend, in my judgment, towards the liberal admission into *78evidence of independent crimes. If this is to be the new rule, why not just say, boldly and plainly, that the barrier has been lifted and defendants will now be tried on their record irrespective of any connection with the alleged crime on trial.
A second, but no less important, reason for my dissent in this case is because I think the majority are mistaken in their assertion that there was "overwhelming evidence” of guilt in this case. The evidence, upon which the conviction must depend, is entirely circumstantial and certainly is not overwhelming. I agree that it is legally sufficient but it does not approach the degree of persuasion attributed to it by the majority opinion. I wrote the opinion for this court upholding the conviction of the co-defendant in this case (Glass v. State, 239 Ga. 78, post, but I believe this defendant is entitled to a new trial.