State v. Tomes

SILAK, Judge.

• A jury found Willis Ray Tomes guilty of grand theft (auto), I.C. §§ 18-2403(1), 18-2407(1), and the district court imposed a unified sentence of six years in prison with a one-year minimum period of confinement. Tomes appeals from the judgment of conviction, arguing that the trial judge erred by refusing Tomes’ request to instruct the jury that it could consider whether Tomes committed the misdemeanor offense of driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent (joy riding), I.C. § 49-227.

The transcript of the trial reveals the following facts. On May 3, 1989, Tomes and his wife,…