State v. Russell

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Foth, C.:

The issue in this case is whether a creditor may lawfully use the threat of force to collect a debt he honestly believes is due him. The defendant Howard Russell used that means of collecting $1,883.57, and was charged with a class D felony, namely, theft by threat in violation of K. S. A. 21-3701 (c). He was convicted by the trial court sitting without a jury and has appealed.

In May, 1973, defendant contracted with Andrew Koehn to finish Koehn’s new farm home in Haskell County. The work was completed during the first part of August, 1973, and…