Court Opinion

ID: 9712950
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:03:37.639166+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:15.402129
License: Public Domain

SAND, Justice,
concurring specially.
I concur in most of the rationale by which the result was reached and in the result. But I have reservations regarding the unqualified statements that the exact time when the theft offense was committed is not a substantial element required to be established by the State; and that unless time is an essential element of the offense *279the State need not prove the precise date or time alleged in the complaint. These statements with no qualification or restriction may be misapplied and may create unwarranted problems.
The theft in this instance involved two phases. The first phase, consisting of the defendant’s false statement that he was unemployed during the week ending 6 September 1980, and his signing of the continued claim form, was an essential element of the theft offense because it put into motion the administrative procedures resulting in the subsequent payment of unemployment funds to the defendant, who was not entitled to them. The second phase, in the absence of appropriate intervening factors, is a continuing offense consisting of unlawfully obtaining funds as a result of the false claim.
The first phase, in my opinion, must be established beyond a reasonable doubt, which includes the time when the false statement was made and filed. However, regarding the second phase, the State must only prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant received the funds resulting from the false claims, but the State is not required to establish the precise or exact time the defendant received the money. The results of a false claim can be established through the applicable law, i.e., that the payments were made pursuant to and in accordance with the usual manner prescribed by law and administrative regulations and by the defendant’s endorsements of the checks so issued.