Shawn Dawkins, a/k/a Sean Antonio Dawkins, was indicted by a Lowndes County grand jury on charges of sexual battery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, theft by taking, and making a false statement. He was also charged as a recidivist. The trial court directed a verdict of acquittal on the charge of theft by taking, and the State entered a nolle prosequi on the charge of aggravated assault. A jury found Dawkins guilty of sexual battery and making a false statement and acquitted him of aggravated battery, finding him guilty of the lesser charge of simple battery. Dawkins appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence, asserting as his sole enumeration of error that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of making a false statement. Because the evidence shows that Dawkins’s conduct also constituted the misdemeanor offense of giving a false name to a police officer, OCGA § 16-10-25, under the “rule of lenity” he must be subject to the penalty for the misdemeanor, rather than the felony. Accordingly, we reverse Dawkins’s felony conviction for making a false statement. Construed to support the verdict, the evidence shows that during the investigation of the incident underlying the indictment, warrants were taken out on Dawkins. Police officers received an anonymous call that Dawkins was at a particular location. After Dawkins was pointed out to them by bystanders, the officers asked him for picture identification. He had none, but produced a social security card and a birth certificate in the name of Anthony White. When asked if he was Sean Dawkins, he denied it, but the officers retrieved a photograph from their patrol car and positively identified him as Dawkins.1
Dawkins raises several contentions in support of his assertion of the general grounds. He first contends that the evidence is insufficient because “the statute was intended for those persons in county, city or state government.” This is a misreading of the plain language of the statute, which applies not only to public officials but to any “person” who makes a misrepresentation “in any matter within the jurisdiction” of a government entity. See Watkins v. State , 191 Ga. App. 87, 89 2 381 SE2d 45 1989. Dawkins next complains that the documents he presented were not “false” because they were authentic papers belonging to his cousin, who testified that he had not authorized Dawkins to use them. But OCGA § 16-10-20 provides three ways in which the crime of giving a false statement may be committed: 1 by falsifying or concealing a material fact; 2 by making a false statement or representation; or 3 by knowingly making or using a false writing. See State v. Johnson , 269 Ga. 370 499 SE2d 56 1998. Dawkins was charged with making a false statement, not with using a false writing or document under the same Code section. See id. at 371 defendant charged with using a false document.
