O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 40-2-7 (2019)

Removing or affixing license plate with intent to conceal or misrepresent

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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A person who removes a license plate from a vehicle or affixes to a vehicle a license plate not authorized by law for use on it, in either case with intent to conceal or misrepresent the identity of the vehicle or its owner, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this Code section, “remove” includes deface or destroy.

History

Ga. L. 1961, p. 68, § 34; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 40; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Editor’s notes. - In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under Ga. L. 1966, p. 10, § 1 are included in the annotations for this Code section. Intent to misrepresent. - Evidence was ample to support defendant’s conviction for intending to misrepresent or conceal the identity of the stolen vehicle the defendant possessed or the vehicle’s owner as the evidence showed that the defendant knew that the license tag did not belong on the vehicle and that the defendant affixed that license plate to keep the city from learning that the vehicle was abandoned. Rose v. State, 258 Ga. App. 232, 573 S.E.2d 465, 2002 Ga. App. LEXIS 1406 (2002). Not lesser included offense of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-5 offense. - Misdemeanor offense of affixing to a

vehicle a license plate not authorized for use on that vehicle is not a lesser included offense of the felony offense of using a motor vehicle license plate upon a vehicle for which the plate was not issued. Dismuke v. State, 142 Ga. App. 381, 236 S.E.2d 12, 1977 Ga. App. LEXIS 1624 (1977) (decided under Ga. L. 1966, p. 10, § 1). Rule of lenity did not apply. - Because the defendant was convicted and sentenced for a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-5, and not for a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-7, for the single and distinct offense of operating a motor vehicle bearing an improper tag, the Court of Appeals of Georgia had no occasion to apply the rule of lenity. Rylee v. State, 288 Ga. App. 784, 655 S.E.2d 239, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 1204 (2007).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 257, 392. ALR. Validity and construction of statute

making it a criminal offense to “tamper” with motor vehicle or contents, or to obscure registration plates, 57 A.L.R.3d 606.

REGISTRATION/LICENSING OF MOTOR VEH.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1994–2013 · leading case: Rose v. State, 573 S.E.2d 465 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002).

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Rose v. State, 573 S.E.2d 465 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “6 OCGA § 40-2-7; Rogers v. State, 185 Ga. App.”

Hines v. State, 740 S.E.2d 786 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “(b) The evidence was also sufficient to support Hines’ convictions for concealing the identity of a car under OCGA § 40-2-7. Timmons testified that Hines directed her son to remove the car tag before they returned to the store, and this testimony was corroborated by Hines’…”

Grizzle v. State, 713 S.E.2d 701 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 2× “8 OCGA § 40-2-7. 9 Dover v. State, 307 Ga. App.”

Lloyd v. State, 448 S.E.2d 729 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “Appellant Lloyd was convicted of armed robbery (OCGA § 16-8-41), giving a false name to a law enforcement officer (OCGA § 16-10-25), and use of a license plate to conceal the identity of a vehicle (OCGA § 40-2-7). He appeals his convictions and the trial court’s denial of his…”

Rylee v. State, 655 S.E.2d 239 (Ga. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “(b) Rylee correctly points out that he might have been charged under OCGA § 40-2-7, which provides in relevant part that “[a] person who removes a license plate from a vehicle or affixes to a vehicle a license plate not authorized by law for use on it, in either case with intent…”

Bridgett Marvette Hines v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “(b) The evidence was also sufficient to support Hines’ convictions for concealing the identity of a car under OCGA § 40-2-7. Timmons testified that Hines directed her son to remove the car tag before they returned to the store, and this testimony was corroborated by Hines’…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.