Maclin v. State
Maclin v. State
Opinion of the Court
Robert Maclin appeals from a jury verdict finding him guilty of owning, operating, or conducting a “chop shop.”
On appeal, Maclin no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence and we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict.
At their initial meeting, Rogowski copied the vehicle identification number (“VIN”) located on a plate near the windshield. Rogowski ran a check on the VIN and learned that the number was registered to a 1985 Buick Regal. He then arranged to see the vehicle again and found a number on the engine block that did not match the VIN in the windshield. After a check of the engine number showed that it was registered to a stolen vehicle, Rogowski contacted the police.
After speaking with Rogowski, the authorities arranged for him to purchase the vehicle from Maclin for $1,000. The automobile was identified as a 1987 Buick Regal Grand National that had been stolen on February 1, 2004.
Maclin was charged with theft by receiving a motor vehicle and owning, operating, or conducting a chop shop. The jury found him guilty of the chop shop charge, but was unable to reach a verdict as to the theft charge.
The accusation charged that Maclin violated OCGA § 16-8-83 by “knowingly and with intent [selling] a motor vehicle, to wit: a 1987 Buick Regal from a location . . . knowing it to be a chop shop.” The Motor Vehicle Chop Shop and Stolen and Altered Property Act (“Chop Shop Act”) prohibits a person from knowingly and intentionally selling, transferring, purchasing, or receiving “any motor vehicle or motor vehicle part either to or from a location knowing it to be a chop shop.”
The evidence was sufficient to support Maclin’s conviction for violating the Chop Shop Act. By his own admission, Maclin stored a vehicle that he did not own and sold it to another individual. When Maclin obtained the automobile, it had a drive-out tag, the steering column had been replaced, and the door lock was missing. Moreover, the person who provided the vehicle to Maclin had no proof of ownership. When Maclin sold the automobile to Rogowski, multiple parts were missing and there was a discrepancy in the VIN located in the windshield and the VIN found on the engine. Finally, Maclin admitted that he removed parts of the engine and failed to replace them before he sold the automobile to Rogowski.
Viewed in a light most favorable to support the jury’s verdict, the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Maclin guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of owning, operating, or conducting a chop
Judgment affirmed.
OCGA § 16-8-82 (1) (A chop shop is defined as “any building, lot, or other premise where one or more persons knowingly engage in altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or storing any motor vehicle or motor vehicle part known to be illegally obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy to defraud in order to either: (A) Alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate, or remove the identification, including the vehicle identification number of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, in order to misrepresent the identity of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part or to prevent the identification of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part; or (B) Sell or dispose of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.”).
See Hill v. State, 282 Ga. App. 743 (639 SE2d 637) (2006).
See id. at 743-744.
The trial court declared a mistrial as to the theft by receiving a motor vehicle charge.
OCGA§ 16-8-83 (a) (3).
See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
Metts v. State, 270 Ga. 481, 483 (2) (511 SE2d 508) (1999).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.