State v. Pendergraft, 238 N.C. App. 516 (Dec. 31, 2014)

The evidence was sufficient to establish obtaining property by false pretenses. After the defendant filed false documents purporting to give him a property interest in a home, he was found to be occupying the premises and arrested. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence shows that he honestly, albeit mistakenly, believed that he could obtain title to the property by adverse possession and that such a showing precluded the jury from convicting him of obtaining property by false pretenses. The court rejected the assertion that anyone who attempts to adversely possess a tract of property does not possess the intent necessary for a finding of guilt, a position it described as tantamount to making an intention to adversely possess a tract of property an affirmative defense to a false pretenses charge.