People v. James, No. 24809

Docket NºNo. 24809
Citation497 P.2d 1256, 178 Colo. 401
Case DateJune 05, 1972
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado

Page 1256

497 P.2d 1256
178 Colo. 401
The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Patricia Ann JAMES, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 24809.
Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.
June 5, 1972.

[178 Colo. 402] Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., John P. Moore, Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard G. McManus, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.

Rollie R. Rogers, Colorado State Public Defender, J. D. MacFarlane, Chief Deputy

Page 1257

State Public Defender, T. Michael Dutton, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for defendant-appellant.

PRINGLE, Chief Justice.

The appellant in this action, Patricia Ann James, was convicted of two counts of forgery. From that judgment she brings her appeal here. She will hereinafter be referred to as appellant.

On November 29, 1969, a billfold containing a Master Charge credit card was stolen from Patricia Stewart while she was at a tavern in Colorado Springs. Two days later, on December 1, 1969, appellant purchased two wigs from a [178 Colo. 403] beauty shop with Patricia Stewart's Master Charge card. An employee of the beauty shop testified that a separate charge slip was made out for each of the wigs, which sold for $50 apiece, and each of these charge slips was signed by appellant, using Patricia Stewart's name.

Appellant was arrested and charged by Information with two counts of forgery in violation of C.R.S.1963, 40--6--1. This statute states in pertinent part that:

'Every person who shall falsely make, alter, forge, or counterfeit any record or other authentic matter . . .; or shall counterfeit or forge the . . . handwriting of another, with intent to damage or defraud any person, body politic or corporate . . .; or shall utter, publish, or pass, as true and genuine . . . any of the above named false, altered, forged or counterfeited matters . . . shall be deemed guilty of felony . . ..'

Appellant was tried before a jury and at the close of the People's evidence moved for a dismissal on the grounds that she could only be charged under C.R.S.1963, 40--14--21, which specifically deals with the crime of fraudulent misuse of credit cards. This statute, which was enacted subsequent to the aforementioned general forgery statute, makes it a misdemeanor whenever any person

'. . . knowingly . . . purchases any goods, property, or service . . . by the use of any credit card, telephone number, credit number, or other credit device of another without the authority of the person to whom such card, number, or device was issued . . ..'

Appellant claimed that this credit card statute evidence a legislative intent 'to withdraw from the forgery statute the crime of forging a credit card and...

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63 practice notes
  • Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains v. Owens, No. 00-1385.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • April 17, 2002
    ...inconsistency between a later and an earlier statute ... a repeal by implication [will] be held to have occurred." People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256, 1257 (Colo. 1972) (en banc). We are not faced with a case where a general statute is being interpreted to repeal by implication a......
  • State v. Gledhill
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (New Jersey)
    • June 10, 1975
    ...of the criminal laws, e.g. the forgery statutes or those making it a crime to obtain goods by false pretenses. People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256 (Sup.Ct.1972); People [342 A.2d 167] v. Couch, 179 Colo. 324, 500 P.2d 967 (Sup.Ct.1972); State v. Pearson, 250 Or. 54, 440 P.2d 229 (......
  • Mack v. State, No. 77-238-CR
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin
    • January 8, 1980
    ...and use of credit cards. It is possible to use a credit card without committing a forgery. As was noted in People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256, 1258 (1972), a person could sign for his own name, or not be required to sign at all in some cases involving credit card fraud. In such c......
  • People v. Marcy, No. 80SA303
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court of Colorado
    • March 9, 1981
    ...that a single criminal transaction may give rise to the violation of more than one statute. People v. Westrum, supra; People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256 (1972); People v. McKenzie, supra. See People v. District Court, supra (the trial court found probable cause to support a charg......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
62 cases
  • Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains v. Owens, No. 00-1385.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • April 17, 2002
    ...inconsistency between a later and an earlier statute ... a repeal by implication [will] be held to have occurred." People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256, 1257 (Colo. 1972) (en banc). We are not faced with a case where a general statute is being interpreted to repeal by implication a......
  • State v. Gledhill
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (New Jersey)
    • June 10, 1975
    ...of the criminal laws, e.g. the forgery statutes or those making it a crime to obtain goods by false pretenses. People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256 (Sup.Ct.1972); People [342 A.2d 167] v. Couch, 179 Colo. 324, 500 P.2d 967 (Sup.Ct.1972); State v. Pearson, 250 Or. 54, 440 P.2d 229 (......
  • Mack v. State, No. 77-238-CR
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin
    • January 8, 1980
    ...and use of credit cards. It is possible to use a credit card without committing a forgery. As was noted in People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256, 1258 (1972), a person could sign for his own name, or not be required to sign at all in some cases involving credit card fraud. In such c......
  • People v. Marcy, No. 80SA303
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court of Colorado
    • March 9, 1981
    ...that a single criminal transaction may give rise to the violation of more than one statute. People v. Westrum, supra; People v. James, 178 Colo. 401, 497 P.2d 1256 (1972); People v. McKenzie, supra. See People v. District Court, supra (the trial court found probable cause to support a charg......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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