State v. Covey
Annotate this CaseWhen approached by a police officer on suspicion of selling stolen goods, Defendant falsely told the officer that his name was “Daniel Jones.” Defendant later identified himself truthfully as “James Covey.” There was no evidence at trial that the name “Daniel Jones” corresponded to an actual person. Defendant was charged with criminal impersonation in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-638(1)(c). Defendant filed a plea in abatement and moved to dismiss the charge on the ground that criminal impersonation did not apply to the utterance of a name of a fictitious individual. The trial court overruled the plea in abatement and motion to dismiss. After a trial, the jury found Defendant guilty of criminal impersonation. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the evidence was insufficient to convict Defendant of criminal impersonation because the State failed to show that the false name Defendant provided to the police officer corresponded with any actual person.
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