State v. Reynolds

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for second-degree theft, ORS 164.045. She assigns error to the trial court’s denial of her motion for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the state failed to prove the necessary element that she intended to defraud her landlord when she failed to pay rent. Because we agree with defendant, we reverse.

We review challenges to the sufficiency of evidence to determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt.…