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73 N.C. App. 645

327 S.E.2d 33

State v. Church

Court of Appeals of North Carolina

Decided March 19, 1985

Court of Appeals of North Carolina · decided 1985-03-19

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently October 2017

6 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“(a) It shall be unlawful for any person: (7) To knowingly keep or maintain any . . . vehicle . . . which is resorted to by persons using controlled substances in violation of this Article for the purpose of using such substances, or which is used for the keeping or selling of the same .... (b) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Provided, that if the criminal pleading alleges that the violation was committed intentionally, and upon trial it is specifically found that the violation was committed intentionally, such violation shall be a Class I felony.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 78 N.C. App. 239 - State v. Bright

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1985-03-19

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HEDRICK, Chief Judge.

¶1 The bill of indictment in which defendant was charged was drawn from G.S. 90-108(a)(10) (Cum. Supp. 1983) which states:

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person:
(10) To acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge.

¶2 G.S. 90-108(b) (Cum. Supp. 1983) states:

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Provided, that if the criminal pleading alleges that the violation was committed intentionally, and upon trial it is specifically found that the violation was committed intentionally, such violations shall be a Class I felony.

¶3 The verdict purported to find defendant guilty of a misdemeanor under G.S. 90-108(a)(10). In its instructions to the jury the court differentiated between the felony and the misdemeanor under the statute by saying, “Nonfeloniously obtaining possession of a controlled substance differs from feloniously obtaining possession in that the State need not prove that he did so intentionally.”

¶4 The legal definitions of the statutory terms “misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge” have in common a requirement that the person acting in a dishonest manner do so intentionally. Stated another way, these actions involve not only some behavior that tends to deceive others, but also a specific intention to deceive. Because any commission of the offense set out in G.S. 90-108(a)(10) is by definition intentional, and because G.S. 90-108(b) provides that intentional violations of G.S. 90-108 are felonies, a misdemeanor offense under G.S. 90-108(a)(10) does not exist. Thus, the misdemeanor described in the instructions to the jury is not a lesser included offense of the felony described in the *647 bill of indictment and the statute. Because defendant was convicted of a crime which does not exist, the judgment of the trial court must be vacated.

¶5 Judgment vacated.

Judges JOHNSON and COZORT concur.
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