Opinion ID: 1347676
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: essential elements of welfare fraud

Text: The precise question presented by this case is whether the crime of welfare fraud includes as an essential element the dollar amount of unlawfully obtained public assistance. Division Two of the Court of Appeals, construing this court's cases prior to 1985, concluded that it does. State v. Bryce, 41 Wn. App. 802, 707 P.2d 694 (1985). Division One, construing a more recent case from this court, concluded that it does not. State v. Campbell, 69 Wn. App. 302, 307, 848 P.2d 1292 (1993) (citing State v. Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d 444, 805 P.2d 233 (1991)). The ambiguity stems from the history of RCW 74.08.331. That statute defines welfare fraud as grand larceny punishable by up to 15 years of imprisonment, regardless of the amount of welfare wrongly obtained. When the Legislature revised the criminal statutes in 1975, it failed to repeal or modify numerous larcenies that were defined in areas of the RCW outside of Title 9A. Instead, the Legislature provided that [a]ll offenses defined as larcenies outside of this title shall be treated as thefts as provided in this title. RCW 9A.56.100. As the history of judicial interpretation of this sentence shows, the precise legislative intent behind the phrase shall be treated as thefts is not easily discerned. See State v. Sass, 94 Wn.2d 721, 620 P.2d 79 (1980); State v. Holmes, 98 Wn.2d 590, 657 P.2d 770 (1983); State v. Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d 444, 805 P.2d 233 (1991); State v. Bryce, 41 Wn. App. 802, 707 P.2d 694 (1985); State v. Brisebois, 39 Wn. App. 156, 692 P.2d 842 (1984), review denied, 103 Wn.2d 1023 (1985); State v. Tyler, 47 Wn. App. 648, 736 P.2d 1090 (1987). Thefts are classified as first, second, and third degree, depending on the value of the property involved. See RCW 9A.56.030 (property in excess of $1,500 is first degree); RCW 9A.56.040 (property in excess of $250 but less than $1,500 is second degree); RCW 9A.56.050 (property less than $250 is third degree). First degree theft is a class B felony; second degree theft is a class C felony; third degree theft is a gross misdemeanor. RCW 9A.56.030-.050. Campbell argues that the language of RCW 9A.56.100 (shall be treated as thefts) means that welfare fraud, defined as a type of larceny, has been repealed and now is a species of theft. Under the theft statutes, she argues, the dollar amount unlawfully obtained determines the degree of theft and is an element of the crime which must be charged and proved. This court has interpreted the relation between RCW 74.08.331 and RCW 9A.56.100 in a sequence of three cases: State v. Sass, supra ; State v. Holmes, supra ; and State v. Delcambre, supra . Division Two, deciding Bryce in 1985, relied heavily on Sass. Division One's decision in the present case relies on ambiguous phrasing in this court's more recent decision in Delcambre. [6] Our cases have gradually established the principle that, while the crime of welfare fraud does not incorporate the scienter elements of theft, it does incorporate the degrees of theft. RCW 9A.56.100 provides that all offenses defined as larcenies elsewhere will be treated as thefts under RCW Title 9A. This provision impliedly repealed the portion of RCW 74.08.331 making welfare fraud grand larceny and providing for a specific punishment. State v. Sass, 94 Wn.2d 721, 726, 620 P.2d 79 (1980). The crime of welfare fraud is now a theft, the degree of which depends upon the monetary amount involved. Sass, 94 Wn.2d at 725. Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d at 446. Thus, though welfare fraud now borrows the degrees of theft, it does not incorporate any other elements from the theft statute, such as intent to deprive. Welfare fraud is a substantive crime separate from the types of theft defined in RCW 9A.56.020. It contains its own scienter element and means of committing the offense. Only its penalty is determined by reference to the theft provisions. Delcambre, at 451 (overruling State v. Tyler, 47 Wn. App. 648, 736 P.2d 1090 (1987)). [7, 8] The Court of Appeals and the State both note that Delcambre did not specifically hold that the amount of overpayment is now an essential element of the crime of welfare fraud. However, the information at issue in Delcambre alleged the crime in the language of both the welfare fraud statute and the first degree theft statute. Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d at 445. It was within that context that we stated, an information that charges welfare fraud in the language of the statute, plus the monetary amount involved to determine the penalty, apprises a defendant with reasonable certainty of the charge against him. See State v. Bryce, 41 Wn. App. 802, 806, 707 P.2d 694 (1985) (amount of overpayment of public assistance element of crime of welfare fraud); State v. Brisebois, 39 Wn. App. 156, 161, 692 P.2d 842 (1984) (total amount of overpayment element of crime of welfare fraud), review denied, 103 Wn.2d 1023 (1985). Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d at 451. As our references make clear, we intended in Delcambre to overrule only Tyler, not Bryce and Brisebois. This result follows also from the general purpose behind the essential elements rule. It is sufficient to charge the crime in the language of the statute if the statute defines the crime sufficiently to apprise an accused person with reasonable certainty of the nature of the accusation. Delcambre, 116 Wn.2d at 450-51. Since RCW 9A.56.100 grafted the degrees of theft onto the elements stated in the language of the welfare fraud statute, an accused person is sufficiently apprised of the nature of the accusation only if an amount of overpayment and corresponding degree is alleged. [9] Campbell raised this challenge to the sufficiency of the information for the first time on appeal. We therefore construe the charging document liberally for indications of the essential elements of the charged offense, guided by common sense and practicality. State v. Hopper, 118 Wn.2d 151, 156, 822 P.2d 775 (1992). Unlike the information in Delcambre, the information at issue here did not allege the crime in the language of both the welfare fraud statute and a degree of the theft statute. See 116 Wn.2d at 445. Nor did it allege an amount of overpayment. Since the essential elements of the charged offense are not stated in the information and cannot be discerned using the standard of construction for challenges first raised on appeal, we reverse and dismiss without prejudice to the State's ability to refile charges. State v. Vangerpen, 125 Wn.2d 782, 888 P.2d 1177 (1995); State v. Simon, 120 Wn.2d 196, 199, 840 P.2d 172 (1992). UTTER, DOLLIVER, SMITH, GUY, JOHNSON, and MADSEN, JJ., and ANDERSEN and BRACHTENBACH, JJ. Pro Tem., concur.