410_C150

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INSURED GUILTY OF FRAUD

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Automobile	Fraud
False Reporting

In February 2007, Charlene Stevens reported that her truck had been stolen from her driveway. She filed a report with the New York state police and filed a claim under her auto insurance policy. Later, Charlene’s son reported that he had in fact had an accident while driving the truck. The truck was found partially submerged in a pond, and the son was arrested and charged with theft. Later it was discovered that Stevens had actually been a passenger in the truck when her son drove it into the pond. She was arrested for insurance fraud, falsely reporting an incident, and offering a false instrument for filing. After she was found guilty and given a prison sentence of two to four years, she appealed.

On appeal, Stevens argued that had she filed a claim with her insurance carrier for the damage to the vehicle, she would have been entitled to coverage. As a result, Stevens said, she could not have had “larcenous intent” to commit the crime as required by criminal law. The Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Third Department, disagreed. As a preliminary matter, the court noted that Stevens would not necessarily have been entitled to coverage under the policy. The court then noted that even if she were entitled to coverage, Stevens’ intent was still to defraud the insurance company. Therefore the criminal court’s verdict was supported by the evidence.

Stevens also argued that she should have been allowed to claim “renunciation” as an affirmative defense to her crime. The court acknowledged that renunciation is available to defendants “under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of his [or her] criminal effort and, if mere abandonment was insufficient to accomplish such avoidance, by taking further and affirmative steps which prevented the commission thereof.” The court rejected Stevens’ argument that renunciation applied, stating that the crime was committed when she filed the fraudulent claim with the insurance company. Because the crime had already been committed, Stevens could not have prevented the crime through renunciation.

The judgment of the criminal court was affirmed.

People vs. Stevens-Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York-August 13, 2009-65 Appellate Decisions 3d 759