Green v. The State

The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions for four counts of theft by taking after he endorsed checks and misrepresented that the checks were actually payable to him and then deposited the checks into his bank account.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Ellington, Presiding Judge.Following a bench trial in the Superior Court of Wheeler County, the court found Casey Green guilty of four counts of theft by taking, OCGA § 16-8-2.^{^[1]} Green appeals following the trial court’s denial of his motion for new trial. He contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We affirm for the reasons set forth below.

On appeal of a criminal conviction on grounds of insufficiency of the evidence, the appellate court’s duty is to determine “whether after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Punctuation and footnote omitted.) Thompson v. State, 277 Ga. 102, 103 (1) (586 SE2d 231) (2003).^{^[2]} So viewed, the evidence shows that Green and Henry Clark had a long standing business relationship. Clark, through his company, T.C. Logging, Inc., was in the business of purchasing and reselling timber. Green was a “forester” who contracted with landowners for the purchase of timber and oversaw harvesting operations. In the course of his business, Green did not sell timber directly to the mills. Rather, Green would take timber to the mill under Clark’s “ticket,” the mill would pay Clark for the timber, and Clark would cut checks to pay the loggers and the landowners. Green would then, according to Clark, “deliver the checks back where they were supposed to be.” After the expenses were paid, Green and Clark would share the remainder.

Green v. The State

The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions for four counts of theft by taking after he endorsed checks and misrepresented that the checks were actually payable to him and then deposited the checks into his bank account.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report