Cheatham v. Com.
| Citation | 208 S.E.2d 760, 215 Va. 286 |
| Case Date | October 14, 1974 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Virginia |
Page 760
v.
COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.
Page 761
C. Thomas Mustian, John Dirffie Tyler, Richmond (Edward E. Lane & Associates, Richmond, on brief), for plaintiff in error.
Gilbert W. Haith, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Andrew P. Miller, Atty. Gen., on brief), for defendant in error.
Before I'ANSON, C.J., and CARRICO, HARRISON, COCHRAN, HARMAN and POFF, JJ.
COCHRAN, Justice.
Joseph Cheatham was tried by the court, sitting without a jury, and found guilty of credit card theft. His punishment was fixed at confinement for three years in the penitentiary, with two years suspended on good behavior. We granted Cheatham a writ of error to the judgment order.
The sole question for our determination is whether the evidence, which is uncontradicted, is sufficient to support Cheatham's conviction.
On July 9, 1973, Mrs. Jane Brooks was robbed at gun point in her home in Richmond by two men. Among the items taken was Mrs. Brooks's wallet, which contained a BankAmericard credit card issued by First National Exchange Bank of Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia, to Carlton P. Brooks, III, Mrs. Brooks's husband. Mrs. Brooks testified that the credit card had been signed by her and that it was in her wallet at the time of the [215 Va. 287] robbery. She did not attempt to identify Cheatham as one of the robbers.
Eleven days after the robbery, Detective G. C. Robinson, Jr., of the Richmond Police Department, arrested Cheatham, an escapee from Hanover County. The arrest, unrelated to the Brooks robbery, was made when the officer found Cheatham sitting on the porch of a house on Claiborne Street in Richmond. However, while searching Cheatham, Robinson discovered Mrs. Brooks's credit card and a Social Security card not issued in Cheatham's name. The credit card was not in a wallet but was loose in Cheatham's right rear pocket. Officer Robinson thereupon also arrested Cheatham 'for this card,' the warrant subsequently issued charging that Cheatham unlawfully and feloniously had 'in his possession a stolen BankAmericard property of Carlton P. Brooks, III.'
Cheatham was tried under an indictment that charged him with obtaining and withholding the described credit card 'with intent to use the same for his own benefit with the intent to cheat and defraud,' in violation of Code §§ 18.1--125.3 and 18.1--125.6.
Officer Robinson testified that Cheatham told him that he had found the credit card in the 1600 block of Jacqueline Street in Richmond and that a 'lady had told him that the card was 'hot' or not to take it,
Page 762
something to that extent.' The officer could not recall whether Cheatham said how long it had been since he had found the card, but Robinson admitted that Cheatham said that 'he was going to put the card in the mailbox.' The credit card, admitted into evidence, contains no signature.Cheatham's motion to strike the Commonwealth's evidence for insufficiency was overruled. No evidence was adduced on behalf of Cheatham. The trial court found Cheatham guilty 'of Credit Card Theft as charged in the indictment.'
Code § 18.1--125.3 (Cum.Supp.1974) provides that a person is guilty of credit card theft when:
'(a) He takes, obtains or withholds a credit card from the person, possession, custody or control of another without the cardholder's consent or who (sic), with knowledge that it has been so taken, obtained, or withheld, receives the credit card with intent to use it or to sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder . . ..'
[215 Va. 288] Code § 18.1--125.6, also referred to in the indictment, deals with credit...
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Gheorghiu v. Com., 0801-07-4.
...Alexandria. 54 Va. App. 657 Id. at 803-04, 651 S.E.2d at 640. The Supreme Court overruled its prior opinion in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), to the extent that Cheatham "wrongly added the element of retention to credit card theft." Meeks, 274 Va. at 803, 651 ......
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Gheorghiu v. Com., Record No. 0801-07-4.
...she arrived in Alexandria. Id. at 803-04, 651 S.E.2d at 640. The Supreme Court overruled its prior opinion in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), to the extent that Cheatham "wrongly added the element of retention to credit card theft." Meeks, 274 Va. at 803, 651 S......
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Sandoval v. Com., 1516-93-1
...the proof in support of the indictment was limited to evidence that the cards were stolen. He argues that in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), the Supreme Court held that mere proof of possession of a recently stolen credit card is insufficient to support a convi......
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Darnell v. Com., 1683-89-2
...with the intent to use, sell, or transfer the card to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder. Cheatham Page 544 v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 290, 208 S.E.2d 760, 763 (1974); see also Wilder v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 145, 147, 225 S.E.2d 411, 413 "Larceny is the wrongful taking of ......
-
Gheorghiu v. Com., 0801-07-4.
...Alexandria. 54 Va. App. 657 Id. at 803-04, 651 S.E.2d at 640. The Supreme Court overruled its prior opinion in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), to the extent that Cheatham "wrongly added the element of retention to credit card theft." Meeks, 274 Va. at 803, 651 ......
-
Gheorghiu v. Com., Record No. 0801-07-4.
...she arrived in Alexandria. Id. at 803-04, 651 S.E.2d at 640. The Supreme Court overruled its prior opinion in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), to the extent that Cheatham "wrongly added the element of retention to credit card theft." Meeks, 274 Va. at 803, 651 S......
-
Sandoval v. Com., 1516-93-1
...the proof in support of the indictment was limited to evidence that the cards were stolen. He argues that in Cheatham v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 208 S.E.2d 760 (1974), the Supreme Court held that mere proof of possession of a recently stolen credit card is insufficient to support a convi......
-
Darnell v. Com., 1683-89-2
...with the intent to use, sell, or transfer the card to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder. Cheatham Page 544 v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 286, 290, 208 S.E.2d 760, 763 (1974); see also Wilder v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 145, 147, 225 S.E.2d 411, 413 "Larceny is the wrongful taking of ......