Smith v. State

Following a jury trial, William Smith was convicted of two counts of identity fraud OCGA § 16-9-121 a 1 2010, four counts of forgery in the second degree OCGA § 16-9-2 a 2010, and one count of giving a false name to law enforcement OCGA § 16-10-25. Smith was also convicted of two additional counts of second degree forgery as lesser included offenses of two first degree forgery charges OCGA § 16-9-1 a 2010. Smith filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. On appeal, Smith contends that 1 the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for identity fraud, second degree forgery and giving a false name, and 2 the trial court erred in giving a sua sponte charge on the lesser included offense of forgery in the second degree. For the reasons that follow, we find that the evidence was insufficient to support Smith’s conviction for giving a false name and, therefore, reverse that conviction. We affirm Smith’s convictions on the remaining counts.

Viewed in the light most favorable to conviction,1 the evidence shows that in February 2010, Smith, his cousin, Dwayne Murry, and Michael Flake, went to a Best Buy store in Douglas County, Georgia. Smith, Murry and Flake took nearly $500 in merchandise, including an iPod, to the cash register. Murry presented a forged check and a fake Alabama identification card to the cashier to purchase the merchandise. Both the check and identification card bore the name “Earnest Lawson.”