WEST v. STATE, 250 Ind. 382 (1968)

235 N.E.2d 55

WEST v. STATE OF INDIANA.

No. 31,118.Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed March 26, 1968. Rehearing denied May 13, 1968.

CRIMINAL LAW — Larceny — Unauthorized Control of Property. — Evidence showing that defendant’s possession of an automobile of a rental agency was authorized, but was obtained by deception, namely forgery, and the use of the name of another person, was insufficient to support conviction of theft by gaining “unauthorized control of the property.”

From the Criminal Court of Marion County, Division One, John T. Davis, Judge.

Appellant, Charles Wayne West, was convicted of theft by unlawfully and feloniously gaining unauthorized control over the property of another, from which he appeals.

Reversed.

Frederick B. Robinson, of Indianapolis, for appellant.

John J. Dillon, Attorney General, Lawrence D. Frutkin,
Deputy Attorney General, and Michael V. Gooch, Deputy Attorney General, for appellee.

Page 383

ARTERBURN, J.

The charge in this case by affidavit is theft by unlawfully and feloniously gaining unauthorized control over the property of Red Cab, Incorporated, etc. This case is based upon the same transaction as that of Charles Wayne West v. State of Indiana, No. 31117, and we need not summarize the evidence here, but merely refer to the opinion in that case, which plainly shows that the possession of the car was authorized, but was obtained by deception, namely forgery, and the use of the name of another person. Therefore the evidence does not sustain in this case a conviction of theft by gaining “unauthorized control of property,” but rather shows authorized control obtained through deception. The State filed no brief in opposition thereto.

The conviction must be reversed, with directions to enter judgment for the appellant.

Lewis, C.J., and Mote, Hunter and Jackson, JJ., concur.

NOTE. — Reported in 235 N.E.2d 55.