Jones v. State

OPINION

COATS, Judge.

Anthony Jones was convicted, after a jury trial, of theft in the second degree, AS 11.46.130(a)(1). He appealed on the basis of a purported ex parte communication between trial Judge James R. Blair and the jury. We remanded for an evidentiary hearing. 1

The record reflects that at trial the judge instructed the jury that one element of theft in the second degree required the defendant to “obtain the property of another.” See AS 11.46.100(1). The court then defined “obtain” as “to exert control over property of another.”

On remand, Judge Jay Hodges heard testimony from one of…