State v. Bell

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is the State’s appeal from the district court’s dismissal of all criminal charges at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing based on the State’s failure to meet its burden of proof that a crime had been committed. The State appeals pursuant to K.S.A. 1994 Supp. 22-3602(b)(1).

The defendant, W. Fletcher Bell, was charged with two counts of theft by deception (K.S.A. 21-3701[b]) arising out of a workers compensation claim. To convict a defendant of theft by deception^ the State is required to prove a number of elements (K.S.A.…