Lawrence v. State

269 P.3d 672, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 14, 2012 WL 246624
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedJanuary 27, 2012
DocketA-10757
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 269 P.3d 672 (Lawrence v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawrence v. State, 269 P.3d 672, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 14, 2012 WL 246624 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION

BOLGER, Judge.

Beth K. Lawrence stole a purse that contained two "access devices" as defined in AS 11.81.900(b)(1)-a debit card and a social security card. Although she was not charged with stealing the purse itself, she was charged with two counts of theft in the see-ond degree for stealing the access devices. A jury convicted her of both counts.

On appeal, Lawrence claims that the superior court erred when it instructed the jury that, when the object of a theft is a container (in this case, a purse), the thief need not know in advance the contents of the container, and the jury may, but need not, infer that the person intended to deprive the owner of the container's contents. She claims that the superior court should have granted her request for a mistrial based on this jury instruction. She also claims that there was insufficient evidence to prove that she acted with the requisite culpable mental state for second-degree theft; that the second-degree theft statute is unconstitutionally vague; and that, under the prohibition against double jeopardy, she cannot properly be convicted of two counts of theft for stealing one purse.

For the reasons set out here, we affirm Lawrence's convictions. However, we remand the case to the superior court so that the judgment may be corrected to reflect that Lawrence's two convictions merge.

Background

On July 21, 2009, Lawrence entered a store in Fairbanks and, while there, stole the purse of a store employee. The purse contained the victim's debit card and her social security card. These cards were "access devices" as defined by AS 11.81.900(b)(1).1 Stealing an access device is second-degree [674]*674theft, a class C felony.2 - Lawrence was charged with two counts of this offense, one charge for each stolen access device. She was not separately charged with stealing the victim's purse.

When discussing jury instructions, Lawrence's attorney took the position that the State had to prove that Lawrence specifically intended to steal each access device, not just the purse. Superior Court Judge Paul R. Lyle rejected this position, and warned Lawrence's attorney that if he made this argument to the jury, the judge would tell the jury to ignore it. Judge Lyle told the attorneys that if they misstated the law during argument, the jury would be told to disregard any misstatement.

Despite these warnings, Lawrence's attorney argued to the jury that Lawrence did not have the requisite state of mind to steal the access cards because she did not know they were in the victim's purse. The attorney asked the jury to consider; "Did she have the conscious objective when she grabbed that purse to steal those access devices?"

Lawrence's attorney also argued that Lawrence was "after cash," not access devices. "She stole the purse, but she didn't grab that purse with the intent of stealing access devices." The attorney noted that the trooper never asked Lawrence if she knew the access cards were in the purse and that she was depriving the victim of her debit card and social security card. The attorney concluded that "this [case] is about whether or not she intended to take those access devices."

After arguments, Judge Lyle-outside the jury's presence-found that Lawrence's argument was contrary to the law and that it was necessary to give the jury a curative instruction. Over Lawrence's objection, the court instructed the jury that,

[where the object of an alleged theft is a container, an inference may, but need not be, drawn that the defendant acted with the intent to deprive the owner of its contents whatever they might be. It is not necessary that the offender know in advance the contents of the container.

After the jury began its deliberations, Lawrence asked for a mistrial, asserting that the curative instruction misstated Alaska law. Judge Lyle denied the request for a mistrial. Lawrence now appeals.

Discussion

The instruction on theft of a container was valid under the facts of this case and is supported by case law from other jurisdictions.

Lawrence claims Judge Lyle erred when he instructed the jury on theft of the contents of a container. She contends that the jury instruction "runs afoul" of the rule that "instructions to a jury, taken as a whole, must result in the jury understanding that it was the State's burden to prove ... beyond a reasonable doubt ... every element of the offenses charged against the defendant, including all culpable mental states."

Lawrence argues that Judge Lyle should have reminded the jury when he gave the curative instruction that it was the State's burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. She also asserts that the judge should have instructed the jury that, while it could reasonably infer Lawrence's intent to steal the contents of the purse from the fact that she intentionally stole the purse, it should also weigh any evidence showing a contrary intent.

Our review of the record indicates that the Jury was repeatedly instructed-both before and after this curative jury instruction-that the State had the burden of proving that Lawrence intended to take the property of another. The jury was also told that it should consider all the evidence when reaching its verdict. And the curative instruction informed the jury that it may, but need not, infer Lawrence's intent to steal the contents of the purse from the fact that she stole the purse. We conclude Judge Lyle was not required to provide additional instructions to the jury on this issue. Because we find no error in the court's instruction, we uphold the court's decision to deny Lawrence's motion for a mistrial.

[675]*675Lawrence also argues that it was improper to tell the jury that when a thief steals a container, the thief can be convicted of stealing the contents, even though the thief does not know the container's contents in advance. But other jurisdictions have consistently ruled that a person who steals a container may also be convicted of theft for stealing the container's contents, even when the thief did not know the nature of those contents.3

We reached a similar conclusion in an analogous circumstance in Ortberg v. State.4 In that case, the defendant was charged with second-degree criminal mischief for intentionally damaging property valued at $500 or more.5 We concluded that the defendant could be convicted of criminal mischief based on proof that he intentionally damaged property of the required value, and that the State was not required to prove that the defendant was aware of the monetary value of the damage.6

We note that it is common knowledge that people routinely carry credit cards, debit cards, and items such as social security cards in purses and wallets. - Consequently, we conclude that when Lawrence stole the vice-tim's purse, she had to realize that she would likely be stealing some of these access devices. We need not reach the issue of whether, under cireumstances not presented in this case, such an instruction might unfairly make a thief liable for stealing a container with unusual property inside.

The evidence was sufficient to prove that Lawrence intended to deprive the owner of this property.

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Related

State of Missouri v. Ronald Donnell Burns
444 S.W.3d 527 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2014)
Lawrence v. State
269 P.3d 672 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
269 P.3d 672, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 14, 2012 WL 246624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawrence-v-state-alaskactapp-2012.