Case Name: McRAE v. THE STATE
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1978-03-02
Citations: 145 Ga. App. 122
Docket Number: 55254
Parties: McRAE v. THE STATE.
Judges: Shulman and Birdsong, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 145
Pages: 122–122

Head Matter:
55254.
McRAE v. THE STATE.
Submitted January 30, 1978
Decided March 2, 1978.
Baker, Conrad & Abernathy, H. Clifton Conrad, Jr., for appellant.
C. B. Holcomb, District Attorney, for appellee.

Opinion:
Bell, Chief Judge.
Defendant was convicted of burglary. Held:
Defendant urges that the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury on the lesser offense of criminal trespass after a written request for the charge. Defendant's purported request reads in part as follows: "Defendant... requests the court change [sic] as to lesser offenses: 1... 2. Criminal trespass." In State v. Stonaker, 236 Ga. 1 (222 SE2d 354), it was held that it was not error to fail to charge on a lesser offense in the absence of a written request. In order for a refusal to charge to constitute error the requested charge must be a correct and complete statement of the law. Durand v. Reeves, 217 Ga. 492, 495 (3) (123 SE2d 552); McMullen v. Vaughan, 138 Ga. App. 718, 720 (227 SE2d 440). The request to charge here is nothing more than a mere reference to criminal trespass and is not a complete and correct statement of the law.
Judgment affirmed.
Shulman and Birdsong, JJ., concur.