Rios v. State

DAUKSCH, Judge.

This is an appeal from convictions for grand theft of a motor vehicle1 and failure to return a hired vehicle.2 The question on appeal is whether appellant could be constitutionally convicted of both offenses when the facts are that appellant rented a car, kept it beyond its due date for return and failed to return it.

Although the elements of the failure to return a hired vehicle crime and the theft crime are not the same, it is clear that the specific crime regarding a hired vehicle is generally included in the general theft statute. That is to say, if one commits the failure…