Pending a trover action, the death or destruction of or material injury to the property in dispute shall be no defense to a mere wrongdoer. If the defendant is a bona fide claimant and the injury arises from an act of God and is in no way the result of the defendant's conduct, the jury may take the death, destruction, or material injury of the property into consideration; but in no case shall such an event cast the costs upon the plaintiff.
Georgia Legal Code