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2018 Georgia Code 44-7-103 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 44-7-103 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 44-7-103

TITLE 44 PROPERTY

Section 7. Landlord and Tenant, 44-7-1 through 44-7-119.

ARTICLE 5 CROPPERS

44-7-103. Illegal sale by cropper; refusal of landlord to deliver cropper's share; penalties.

  1. Any cropper who sells or otherwise disposes of any part of the crop grown by him without the consent of the landlord before the landlord has received his part of the crop and payment in full for all advances made to the cropper in the year the crop was raised for the purpose of raising such crop shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
  2. Any landlord who fails or refuses, on demand, to deliver to the cropper the part of the crop or its value to which the cropper is entitled after payment for all advances made to him as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ga. L. 1889, p. 113, § 2; Ga. L. 1892, p. 115, § 1; Penal Code 1895, § 680; Penal Code 1910, § 729; Code 1933, § 61-9904.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Applicability.

- Statute does not apply to tenants. Hackney v. State, 101 Ga. 512, 28 S.E. 1007 (1897) (see O.C.G.A. § 44-7-103).

Statute applies only to debts created by advances to croppers. Brown v. State, 2 Ga. App. 657, 58 S.E. 1070 (1907) (see O.C.G.A. § 44-7-103).

Essence of the offense is the sale of the crop before settling in full with the landlord and before the landlord received the landlord's part of the crop, and without the landlord's consent. McGarr v. State, 13 Ga. App. 80, 78 S.E. 776 (1913).

Relationship required.

- Person cannot be convicted under this statute unless the evidence shows that the relationship of landlord and cropper existed between the person and the person's landlord. Shepard v. State, 45 Ga. App. 519, 165 S.E. 320 (1932) (see O.C.G.A. § 44-7-103).

Landlord's ownership.

- Landlord need not own land in fee simple. Freeman v. State, 30 Ga. App. 133, 116 S.E. 920 (1923).

Indictment.

- All that was necessary in an indictment for selling crops without the landlord's consent was to charge that the accused sold a quantity of bales of cotton grown on the rented land, the sale being without the landlord's consent, and before paying the agreed rent for the premises, and with the intent to defraud the landlord, and thereby causing a loss to the landlord. Barbour v. State, 66 Ga. App. 498, 18 S.E.2d 40 (1941).

Description of crops.

- In an indictment for the offense of selling crops without the landlord's consent, it is sufficient to describe the crops sold in the most general terms, and a more particular description is mere surplusage and need not be proved. Barbour v. State, 66 Ga. App. 498, 18 S.E.2d 40 (1941).

Element of crime omitted from instruction.

- Before a cropper can be legally convicted of selling a part of the crop grown by the cropper, it is necessary to show that the sale was "without the consent of the landlord"; and when the judge, in charging the jury, leaves out this essential ingredient of the crime, the charge is not complete, and the error requires the grant of a new trial. Moon v. State, 42 Ga. App. 467, 156 S.E. 640 (1931).

Cited in Scott v. State, 6 Ga. App. 332, 64 S.E. 1005 (1909); Smith v. State, 7 Ga. App. 468, 67 S.E. 202 (1910); Curry v. State, 17 Ga. App. 272, 86 S.E. 533 (1915); Veal v. State, 40 Ga. App. 256, 149 S.E. 328 (1929); Knight v. State, 80 Ga. App. 373, 56 S.E.2d 128 (1949).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 49 Am. Jur. 2d, Landlord and Tenant, § 549.

C.J.S.

- 52A C.J.S., Landlord and Tenant, § 1246.

ALR.

- Judicial or execution sale of realty as affecting debtor's share in crops grown by tenant or cropper, 13 A.L.R. 1425; 113 A.L.R. 1355.

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