Hugo v. City of Fairbanks

OPINION

COATS, Judge.

Ellen M. Hugo was convicted of shoplifting, in violation of Fairbanks General Code Ordinance (FGCO) § 6.303(a). 1 The trial court construed the ordinance as not requiring an intent to permanently deprive. Hugo appeals her conviction on the basis that the ordinance requires such an intent. We agree and reverse the conviction.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Hugo is an elderly Eskimo woman from Anaktuvuk Pass. Sometime during the first two weeks of December, 1981, she flew to Fairbanks to be with her hospitalized husband. Hugo had visited Fairbanks occasionally and had often shopped in…