Powell v. Bigley

Decided August 15, 1853

Supreme Court of Georgia · decided 1853-08-15

Trover, &c., in Coweta Superior Court. Tried before Judge Hill, March Term, 1853. This was an action of Trover to recover certain negroes, brought by John Bigley against John B. Russell, since deceased, and whose administrator is the plaintiff in error. Russell had intermarried with the daughter of the plaintiff, and the negroes in question, had been sent to the house of defendant, and remained until his wife’s death, when this action was brought.

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Decided 1853-08-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently December 2019

3 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1By the Court.

Starnes, J.-

¶2delivering the opinion.

¶3[1.] In our opinion, there was error in the decision of the Court granting a new trial in this case, on the ground that the verdict was contrary to evidence.

¶4We have repeatedly held, that a reviewing Court should not disturb the verdict of a jury, where there is some evidence on both sides, even though the verdict be against the strong preponderance of the testimony, unless that preponderance be so *43great as to be suggestive of improper bias, or gross misapprehension on the part of the jury, and that to an extent which shocks the understanding and moral sense.

¶5There was some evidence here for the defendant, although the weight of testimony was against the verdict. But we see nothing to authorize the conclusion, that this was so, to such an extent as to indicate improper bias, or gross misapprehension; and therefore we think the Court erred in granting a new trial.

¶6Let the judgment be reversed.