Opinion ID: 2071758
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Consolidation of Theft Offenses

Text: Jonusas claims the district court erred in failing to clearly set forth the crime of which he was convicted. It is undisputed that Jonusas was charged with theft by deception, but at the conclusion of the trial, the court found Jonusas guilty of violating § 28-511(1), theft by unlawful taking or disposition. [3] The issue presented is whether a defendant may be charged with theft by one manner and subsequently convicted of theft by another manner. This is a question of law, which we analyze independently of the determination made by the trial court. When dispositive issues on appeal present questions of law, an appellate court has an obligation to reach an independent conclusion irrespective of the decision made by the court below. State v. Thomas, 268 Neb. 570, 685 N.W.2d 69 (2004). Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-510 (Reissue 1995) provides: Conduct denominated theft in [§§] 28-509 to 28-518 constitutes a single offense embracing the separated offenses heretofore known as larceny, embezzlement, false pretense, extortion, blackmail, fraudulent conversion, receiving stolen property, and the like. An accusation of theft may be supported by evidence that it was committed in any manner that would be theft under [§§] 28-509 to 28-518, notwithstanding the specification of a different manner in the indictment or information, subject only to the power of the court to [e]nsure fair trial by granting a continuance or other appropriate relief where the conduct of the defense would be prejudiced by lack of fair notice or by surprise. Section 28-510 mirrors A.L.I., Model Penal Code and Commentaries § 223.1(1) (1980). The purpose of Model Penal Code § 223.1 is described in comment 1 at 133: The purpose of consolidation, therefore, is not to avoid the need to confront substantive difficulties in the definition of theft offenses. The appropriate objective is to avoid procedural problems. . . . The real problem arises from a defendant's claim that he did not misappropriate the property by the means alleged but in fact misappropriated the property by some other means and from the combination of such a claim with the procedural rule that a defendant who is charged with one offense cannot be convicted by proving another. Section 28-510 has created a single offense of theft which may be committed by the violation of any one of the following sections. See, also, Model Penal Code and Commentaries, supra, comment 2(c). Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-509 (Reissue 1995) defines the terms used in conjunction with the offense of theft. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-511 to 28-517 (Reissue 1995 & Cum. Supp. 2004) each set forth a different manner by which theft may be committed. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-518 (Reissue 1995) describes the grading of theft crimes. The consolidation statute, § 28-510, provides that the offense of theft may be supported by evidence that it was committed via any manner described in §§ 28-509 to 28-517 regardless of the manner by which the information alleges the theft occurred. The defendant is thus foreclosed from defending on the basis that his conduct supported one type of theft but that he was charged with another. See Model Penal Code and Commentaries, supra. Jonusas asserts that his being charged with theft by deception and being convicted of theft by unlawful taking or disposition was a violation of his due process rights. He claims he was not given notice that he was being tried for theft by unlawful taking or disposition when he was charged with theft by deception. We conclude that this argument is without merit. A plain reading of § 28-510 reveals that the State may charge a defendant with theft by deception but obtain a conviction of theft by unlawful taking or disposition. The phrase any manner that would be theft under [§§] 28-509 to 28-518 includes a conviction of theft by unlawful taking or disposition. See § 28-510. In effect, § 28-510 has subsumed various forms of unlawful acquisitive behavior into a single offense of theft which may be committed by taking part in any one of several activities described in §§ 28-509 to 28-517. The unifying concept in all these crimes is that each involves the involuntary transfer of property. In each case, the actor appropriates the property of the victim without his or her consent or with a consent that was obtained by fraud or coercion. See Model Penal Code and Commentaries, supra, comment 2.