State v. Browning

The state charged defendant with 14 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment based on withdrawals he made from accounts belonging to his elderly mother and mother-in-law, each of whom had signed documents giving him power of attorney over their financial affairs. Defendant, who repaid some of the money he had withdrawn from the accounts, said that the withdrawals were loans.

As relevant here, a person commits first-degree criminal mistreatment if the person, having assumed the care of an elderly person, “intentionally or knowingly” “takes” or “appropriates” the elderly person’s money or…