McNair v. State
Georgia Supreme Court
745 S.E.2d 646 (2013)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
[Editor’s Note: The casebook The Legislative Process, Statutory Interpretation, and Administrative Agencies (Linda D. Jellum ed., 2d ed. 2021) erroneously gives the citation of this case as “735 S.E.2d 646.” The correct citation is “745 S.E.2d 646.”] Todd McNair (defendant) was convicted by the State of Georgia (plaintiff) on felony identity-fraud charges for stealing and using the victim’s credit card. At the sentencing hearing, McNair argued that the rule of lenity applied because there were two criminal statutes, namely the identity-fraud statute and the financial-transaction-card-theft statute (card-theft statute), that imposed different felony punishments for McNair’s misconduct. Because the card-theft statute imposed a lesser punishment than the identity-theft statute, McNair argued that the rule of lenity mandated that the lesser punishment be the punishment imposed. The trial court rejected McNair’s argument and sentenced McNair under the identity-fraud statute. McNair appealed, and the appellate court affirmed, holding that the rule of lenity did not apply because McNair would be charged with a felony under either statute. McNair appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Benham, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 788,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
