People v. Davis

I respectfully dissent.

It is clear that the defendant’s nefarious scheme was thwarted by the effective cooperation of the intended victim and the law enforcement authorities, but because the statute which sets forth the offense of theft by deception employs the words “Obtains by deception,” in my -view the State must prove reliance on the deception by the victim. It could even be more forcefully argued here that there was no deception as defined by the Criminal Code of 1961, but most certainly there was no reliance, either by Roberts or by IDLE agents. Reliance need not be specifically…