Green v. State

• Decision Date: 30 January 1975
• Docket Number: No. 50011,No. 3,50011,3
• Citation: 133 Ga.App. 802,213 S.E.2d 60
• Parties: C. F. GREEN, Jr., et al. v. The STATE
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 60

213 S.E.2d 60

133 Ga.App. 802

C. F. GREEN, Jr., et al. v. The STATE.

No. 50011.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 3.

Jan. 30, 1975.

Horace L. Cheek, Jr., Savannah, for appellants.

Andrew J. Ryan, Jr., Dist. Atty., Michael K. Gardner, Asst. Dist. Atty., Savannah, for appellee.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

DEEN, Presiding Judge.

The crime of burglary is complete when one without authority enters the building of another with intent to commit a theft. Code Ann. § 26-1601. Count 1 of the present indictment alleged entry into a 'place of business of Interstate Stations, Inc. with intent to commit a theft therein' and that the defendant 'did steal therefrom keys, gum and pennies of the approximate value of $45, property of Interstate Stations, Inc.' Count 2 alleged merely entry into a 'place of business of Interstate Stations, Inc. with intent to commit a theft.' The proof showed that both stations belonged to Interstate Stations, Inc. In each a person was in charge; one described himself as a manager, the other a tenant. In both cases, however, it appeared that the station was run by a person who was supplied with gasoline, oil and other automotive supplies by Interstate Stations, Inc. and paid for it on a commission basis after sale to retain customers. As to Count 1 there was testimony that the gum, drinks, cigarettes and so forth were purchased and sold by the person in charge separately from the automotive supplies, and that the box of pennies was for purposes of sales tax. Held:

1. Ownership of the building was properly laid in Interstate Stations, Inc. It was held in Boyd v. State, 4 Ga.App. 273(2), 61 S.E. 134 that when one who owns a dwelling and rents a room to a lodger which is burglarized, the ownership of the place burglarized may be laid in either the general or special occupant. It is clear that the alleged corporate owner was placing its service stations in the hands of individual proprietors who ran its business for it and received in exchange a proportion of the purchase price of goods sold. Whether such person was technically a manager of lessee is not, under the evidence here, of great importance, and the fact that one of the places was known as 'Fred's Interstate Station' (which does not denote any legal entity) does not require a contrary conclusion.

2. 'Where an indictment for burglary alleges, as the purpose of the breaking, the intent to commit a larceny, and where it further alleges, for the purpose of...