Elmore v. State

This case comes to us on a transfer petition from the Court of Appeals, Second District. Following a bench trial in the Marion Criminal Court on March 12, 1976, appellants Elmore, Lamb and Montgomery were convicted of theft and conspiracy to commit theft. Each was fined $100 and sentenced to one to ten years imprisonment for the theft and two to fourteen years for the conspiracy. On appeal, the judgment of the trial court was affirmed. Elmore v. State, (1978) Ind. App., 375 N.E.2d 660. However, the Court of Appeals with one judge dissenting held, sua sponte, that the “lesser offense of theft…