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McCrory v. State

Supreme Court of Mississippi
May 27, 1968
210 So. 2d 877 (Miss. 1968)

Summary

In McCrory the defendant had forged the credit card owner's name on the credit card sales slip or invoice evidencing the purchase.

Summary of this case from Bence v. State

Opinion

No. 44878.

May 27, 1968.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Forrest County, Stanton A. Hall, J.

E.E. Schlottman, Jr., Hattiesburg, W.S. Moore, Jackson, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.


This is an appeal from a conviction of forgery in the Circuit Court of Forrest County. The evidence shows that McCrory, appellant, used a stolen Humble Oil and Refining Company credit card to obtain goods in the amount of $46.31 from Lee Dunn's Truck Stop in Hattiesburg. His prosecution and conviction for forgery was based upon his having signed the credit card owner's name to the credit card slip or invoice.

It is well settled that a credit charge or a credit sales slip may be the subject of forgery. Annot., 90 A.L.R.2d 822 (1963). The only issue presented by this appeal is whether Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 2148.5 (Supp. 1966), specifically dealing with the fraudulent use of credit cards, preempts the field and precludes prosecution under the general forgery statute. Miss.Code 1942 Ann. § 2160 (1956).

It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that when two statutes encompass the same subject matter, one being general and the other specific, the latter will control. 1 Sutherland, Statutory Construction § 2022 (3rd ed. 1943). However, that rule is not applicable here since the above mentioned statutes do not cover the same subject matter. Section 2148.5 makes it a misdemeanor to fraudulently use a credit card to obtain or attempt to obtain goods, property or services, regardless of whether a forgery is committed. While the appellant could have been charged under section 2148.5, there is nothing in that statute to preclude his being prosecuted under the general forgery statute. See Vannerson v. State, 403 S.W.2d 791 (Tex.Cr.App. 1966).

Affirmed.

RODGERS, BRADY, PATTERSON and SMITH, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

McCrory v. State

Supreme Court of Mississippi
May 27, 1968
210 So. 2d 877 (Miss. 1968)

In McCrory the defendant had forged the credit card owner's name on the credit card sales slip or invoice evidencing the purchase.

Summary of this case from Bence v. State
Case details for

McCrory v. State

Case Details

Full title:Olius McCRORY, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi

Court:Supreme Court of Mississippi

Date published: May 27, 1968

Citations

210 So. 2d 877 (Miss. 1968)

Citing Cases

Wilbourn v. Hobson

1970); McCaffrey's Food Market, Inc. v. Mississippi Milk Comm'n, 227 So.2d 459, 463 (Miss. 1969); McCrory v.…

Burress v. State

1982), this Court stated: In McCrory v. State, 210 So.2d 877 (Miss. 1968), this Court stated: It is a…