Hugo v. City of Fairbanks
Alaska Court of Appeals
658 P.2d 155 (1983)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
The City of Fairbanks, Alaska (plaintiff) prosecuted Ellen M. Hugo (defendant) for shoplifting, which the pertinent ordinance defined as taking goods "with the intent to deprive the seller of such goods without paying their purchase price." The evidence at Hugo's bench trial established that she took goods from a store, but the prosecution could not disprove her claim that she did not intend to permanently deprive the store of its goods, but planned to return to the store and pay for the items. The judge ruled that the language of the ordinance required the prosecution to prove only that Hugo intended to deprive the store of its goods, not that she intended the deprivation to be permanent. The judge convicted Hugo of shoplifting and she appealed to the Alaska Court of Appeals.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Coats, J.)
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