State v. Stubsjoen

Jerry Johnson, Donald Ponis, and Jeanna Bomber were drinking together and decided to go to a park in Johnson’s car. They brought Bomber’s six-month-old daughter with them. The group met Erin Stubsjoen for the first time at some point that evening, and Stubsjoen went with them to the park, where they drank beer and smoked marijuana. The group left the park and drove to another location in a wooded area. At some point, Johnson, Ponis, and Bomber left the vehicle, and when they returned Stubsjoen was gone. It appeared that the baby was still in her car seat, and the three drove back to Bomber’s house. When they arrived, they discovered that the baby was not in the car seat. They returning to the parking location but could not find Stubsjoen or the baby and called the police. Stubsjoen had taken the baby from the car and gotten a ride from a passing motorist, who brought her to a fire station. Stubsjoen gave a responding police officer a false name and claimed that the baby was hers, that her car had broken down, and that she needed a ride to another town. The police officer arranged for a police chaplain to give her a ride, but when the chaplain pulled over to respond to a notification on his police pager during the drive, Stubsjoen left the car with the baby. Stubsjoen then took a taxi with the baby to a nearby restaurant, where she was eventually arrested. Stubsjoen was convicted of second-degree kidnapping. She appealed, alleging that the evidence was insufficient to uphold the conviction.