Opinion ID: 2442697
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Count 5Theft by Unauthorized Taking or Transfer (Class E)

Text: [¶ 12] Cook's conviction for theft in Count 5 is based on the State's allegations that Cook exercised unauthorized control over copper pipe that had been taken from a camp with the intent to deprive the camp's owner of the copper pipe. A theft by unauthorized taking or transfer occurs when the defendant (1) obtained or exercised unauthorized control (2) over the property of another (3) with intent to deprive the owner of that property. Schmidt, 2008 ME 151, ¶ 20, 957 A.2d at 86 (quotation marks omitted); accord 17-A M.R.S. § 353(1)(A). [¶ 13] At trial, the parties stipulated that no one had permission to go under the camp or to take the copper pipes that were located there. The only other evidence the State presented regarding the theft at that camp was the testimony of Lapointe. Lapointe testified that he and Christopher Cook had gone under the seasonal home and cut copper pipes from underneath the house and that Daniel Cook picked them up and drove them back to the Cook residence. [¶ 14] The State contends that the evidence is sufficient to support Cook's conviction on Count 5 because the police recovered copper pipe, along with other items that had been stolen from seasonal camps, from the culvert in Ellsworth and because Cook knew his house was the hub of the crime spree and had assisted in these crimes by providing transportation. We disagree. To be persuaded that the facts have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, a jury must be convinced that the facts are sufficient to convince [it] of the defendant's guilt and [] the degree of conviction which [it] must have is a conscientious belief that the charge is almost certainly true. Brown, 2000 ME 25, ¶ 15, 757 A.2d at 772 (alteration in original) (quotation marks omitted). The State presented no evidence showing that Cook had been present at the camp during the theft, nor did the State present any evidence that on this occasion Cook had assisted in the commission of the crime or even knew that this specific camp had been burglarized. Although we view the evidence and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the State, Schmidt, 2008 ME 151, ¶ 19, 957 A.2d at 86, the record before us is insufficient to persuade a rational fact-finder that it is almost certainly true that Cook either committed or assisted in the commission of this theft, see State v. Nugent, 2007 ME 44, ¶ 16, 917 A.2d 127, 131; Brown, 2000 ME 25, ¶¶ 15-16, 757 A.2d at 772. We therefore vacate the judgment of conviction on Count 5 of the indictment.