State v. Brooks
New Mexico Court of Appeals
862 P.2d 57, certiorari granted, rev'd on other grounds 877 P.2d 557 (1994)
Brooks (defendant) worked as a bookkeeper for a property management company, sharing an office with its president, and was responsible for tracking receipts, checking credit, balancing the books, and reconciling deposits against the accounts receivable ledger. Tenants who paid rent in cash received a receipt, and their cash was sealed in an envelope and stored in a desk drawer. After the company's president discovered more than $3,000 in missing rental payments, he hired a private investigator, and Brooks admitted to the investigator that he had taken the money. Brooks was charged with seven counts of embezzlement and moved for a directed verdict, arguing the state had failed to prove he was entrusted with the missing funds.
Whether a bookkeeper whose job duties include ensuring rental monies are deposited is thereby entrusted with those monies for purposes of embezzlement.