State v. Waterhouse

Defendant took a pickup truckload of scrap metal items from the metal recycling bin of a Washington County microchip manufacturing plant and was subsequently charged with third-degree theft, a criminal charge applicable when the value of the item or items stolen is less than $100. See ORS 164.043 (so stating). At the close of the state’s case-in-chief, defendant unsuccessfully moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the evidence presented by the state had failed to establish that the items he had taken possessed actual—as opposed to speculative—value. Defendant was subsequently…