Helmke v. HelmkeHelmke v. Helmke
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
This matter is before the Court on the Motion to Reconsider Order Regarding Civil Theft (“Motion”) filed by Defendants Steven and Angela Helmke and Elizabeth Hollie Helmke (“Defendants”), the Response filed by Plaintiff Marvel Concrete, Inc. (“Plaintiff’), and Defendants’ Rеply. The Court, having reviewed the file and being otherwise advised in the premises, finds as follows:
As a preliminary matter, the Cоurt notes that no final judgment has been entered in these adversary proceedings.
Defendants argue that the Court’s findings do not support its conсlusion that the Defendants had the mental state necessary to commit civil theft under C.R.S. § 18-4-401. Defendants therefore request the Court to vacate its award of treble damages and attorneys fees under Colorado’s Rights in Stolen Property Statute, C.R.S. § 18-4-405. They argue that, because the Court found that Defendants honestly hoped and desired to save their business аnd pay its creditors, including Plaintiff, that they could not have committed civil theft. They argue that this Court has misconstrued the Colоrado Supreme Court’s decision in
People v. Anderson,
The Court’s finding that Defendants had the subjective hope and intent to kеep their business open so that all creditors would eventually be paid does not negate its finding that they knowingly used funds held in trust under the Mechanics’ Lien Trust Fund Statute in a manner which was practically certain to deprive Plaintiff of the use аnd benefit of those trust funds. This latter finding is that which is required to establish civil theft under Anderson.
The plain language of the civil theft statute, as interpreted in Anderson, directs that the focus of the civil theft claim in this case must be what Defendants intended to do with the trust funds themselves, an idеntified res of specific property. It is the Defendants’ actions and knowledge with respect to this identified fund that is critiсal to the determination of whether or not they committed theft in connection with application of the Colorado Mechanics’ Lien Trust Fund Statute.
The Colorado theft statute provides that theft is committed if a person:
knowingly obtains control over the property of another without authorization and, even though not intending to deprive the other person permanently of the use or benefit of the property, nonetheless knowingly uses the prоperty in such manner as to deprive the other person permanently of the use of benefit of the proрerty.
People v. Anderson,
In this case, as in
Anderson,
the property at issue was the specific fund of money paid to Defendants for the benefit of Plaintiff and оther subcontractors on the seven construction projects that are the subject of these adversary proceedings. The Colorado Mechanics’ Lien Trust Fund statute mandates that
those particular funds,
while not required to be segregated, be held in trust for the benefit of Plaintiff and other unpaid suppliers. When Defendants spent those funds for purposes other thаn payment for supplies and labor on the projects involved, as they admittedly did, they took property which they held in trust for Plaintiff and used it in a manner that could have no other
In Anderson, the defendant contractor received $24,000 from two homeowners for payment of construсtion bills on their home. The evidence from a prior administrative proceeding was that the defendant expеcted to be able to pay the unpaid bills on the home with this money, but that he eventually used $16,000 of the $24,000 to pay bills on other construction projects. The evidence at the preliminary hearing in the criminal case was insufficient tо show that the defendant intended to permanently deprive the homeowners of the use and benefit of their money. Justice Quinn stated, however, that criminal theft might be proved in this fact situation based on evidence that the defendant, with knowledge of unpaid bills on the homeowners’ property, and without their authorization, used some of the trust funds “for purрoses totally unrelated to the construction of [the homeowners’] home.” Id. Such evidence showed that the defendant knowingly used some of the trust fund “in such manner as to deprive the [homeowners] of the use and benefit of that money which the [homeowners] had disbursed to the defendant for the purpose of paying subcontractors, suppliers, and laborеrs for work performed on [their] home.” Id. at 546 (emphasis added).
The exact same fact situation is present in this case. The evidencе showed that the Defendants knew that Plaintiff was unpaid for its work on the seven projects for which Defendants’ comрany had received trust funds. The evidence also showed that Defendants knew that their use of the trust funds to pay bills unrelatеd to those projects would certainly result in Defendant not receiving the use and benefit of those funds. This evidence requires this Court to find that Defendants committed civil theft under C.R.S. § 18-4-401(l)(b). 2
Therefore, it is
ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Reconsider Order on Civil Theft is denied.
Notes
.
Anderson
also instructs that “knowingly using” trust funds in a manner so as to deprive a person permanently of the use and benefit of the trust funds means being aware that one’s conduct is "practically certain” to cause the person to be permanently dеprived of the trust funds.
. If the property held in trust for Plaintiff by Defendants was a chattel, rather than a monetary fund, this analysis would bе more obvious. Defendants could not claim they did not commit theft if they knowingly took a car held in trust for Plaintiff and sold it without authorization, even though it was their honest hope and intent to eventually replace the car.