State v. WILLARD-FRECKLETON

¶ 1. The State appeals the district court’s grant of motions to dismiss by defendants Victoria Willard-Freckleton, Calista Tanner, and Kara Orfanidis in three unrelated but factually similar cases. The three defendants were accused of stealing cash receipts from their employers. All three cases raise the question of whether an employee who steals property placed under her care, but remaining in her employer’s constructive possession, violates the embezzlement statute, 13 V.S.A. § 2531. The trial court, following State v. Ward, 151 Vt. 448, 562 A.2d 1040 (1989), ruled that employees who take…