Edwards v. State

Ordinarily, the person charged with operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, 1 is the person who took the vehicle from the owner, 2 or whose use, while originally with the owner’s consent, was subsequently illegal. 3 However, the statutory language “intentionally takes and drives any vehicle without the consent of the owner” does not require that the driver of the stolen vehicle be the person who actually took the vehicle from the rightful owner. 4 Here the defendant was charged with intentionally 5 taking and driving an automobile but not charged with the initial taking from…