State v. Thomas

Defendant was charged with theft in the third degree, a misdemeanor. She was tried and found guilty of theft in the third degree, a violation, by a preponderance of the evidence. On appeal, we reversed, because the trial court had denied her a trial by jury and her right to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It candidly stated that, if the requisite burden of persuasion had been proof beyond a reasonable doubt, it would have found her not guilty. The majority now sends her back to be tried anew for the same charge, based on the same operative facts, except that the charge will be…