Court Opinion

ID: 9758633
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:38:37.577572+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:53.636687
License: Public Domain

*309OPINION ON REHEARING
The State has filed a motion for rehearing in which it contends that a fraudulent claim for damaged of lost personal property could be proved entirely by circumstantial evidence. The State contends that if the jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Logan was guilty of insurance fraud, it could not find her guilty unless the State actually found the items claimed to have been damaged or lost.
We agree that the State could prove by circumstantial evidence that the defendant is guilty of insurance fraud. In fact, much of the proof in the present case involved circumstantial evidence. The state showed that the Logan family moved items of personal property from the home before it burned, that their lender had begun foreclosure proceedings, that the fire was caused by arson, and that Logan acted deceptively in preparing the inventory forms.
We also agree that the State could establish the offense level involved by proving, using circumstantial evidence, that property claimed to have been damaged or lost was not actually damaged or lost. For example, if the State had produced testimony concerning specific property the Lo-gans moved from their home before it burned and showed that they claimed the property was damaged or lost in the fire, the jury could have inferred that Logan had submitted a fraudulent claim for that property. We therefore disagree that the State must find the property in order to successfully prosecute an insurance fraud offense.
In the present case, the State did not establish, by circumstantial evidence or otherwise, that Logan was guilty of any more than a Class A misdemeanor.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.