Question

H 6: In 2004, James Clayton Terry was elected to serve as a member of the Lowndes County, Mississippi, Board of Supervisors, as the supervisor for District Four. As a member of the board, Terry was given a county vehicle and a Fuelman card, to be used for business purposes only. The county later began to receive complaints that Terry was making inappropriate purchases of gasoline and using the vehicle to take personal trips to casinos. Following an investigation, Terry was indicted for embezzlement. The trial court found Terry guilty. On appeal, Terry argued that the conviction should be overturned because the state had failed to specify the dates during which the embezzlement supposedly occurred. The state argued that because the embezzlement was continuous, specific dates were not necessary. What exactly is embezzlement? What was embezzled, and should it matter whether the state alleged specific dates on which the embezzlement occurred? What should the conclusion be? According to law

Answer 1

Embezzlement: - James Clayton Terry was serving as a member of the Lowndes County, Mississippi, Board of Supervisors, as the supervisor for District Four, and was given a county vehicle and a Fuelman card, to be used for business purposes only. Terry was later found to be making inappropriate purchases of gasoline and using the vehicle to take personal trips to casinos. This lead to embezzlement of employer’s asset for personal purpose.

Both vehicle and Fuelman card embezzled by Terry. To prove such an embezzlement, specific dates and instances are required to be provided in the court.

As the employer- employee relationship of subordination, employee should act in good faith with the employer’s assets. As in the given scenario, employee i.e. Terry would be found guilty if employer can prove with specific instances that Terry used the assets for personal purposes.