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122 Ga. App. 780

178 S.E.2d 808

Pritchard v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Decided November 9, 1970

Court of Appeals of Georgia · decided 1970-11-09

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently April 1972

5 federal appellate · 2 state decisions

Relies on Thornton v. State · 120 Ga. App. 723 - Parham v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1970-11-09

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Bell, Chief Judge.

¶1 Appellant was convicted of burglary (Count 1). At trial he submitted evidence of alibi. The trial court gave the jury an instruction that the burden was on the defendant to establish his alibi by a preponderance of the evidence to the reasonable satisfaction of the jury. A charge on alibi substan *781 tially the same as this one was held to be harmful error in Parham v. State, 120 Ga. App. 723 (171 SE2d 911). The recent case of Thornton v. State, 226 Ga. 837, infers that an instruction which shifts the burden of proof to the defendant to prove alibi by a preponderance of the evidence is harmful and constitutes reversible error.

Argued September 8, 1970 Decided November 9, 1970. Scott & Alexander, Guy B. Scott, Jr., for appellant. Thomas W. Ridgway, District Attorney, for appellee.

¶2 Judgment reversed.

Quillian and Whitman, JJ., concur.
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