S-20-0849, State v. Christine Vanderford [Appellant]
District Court for Lancaster County, Honorable Robert Otte
Attorneys: Melissa R. Vincent (Attorney General’s Office) --- Robert B. Creager (Anderson, Creager & Wittstruck, P.C.)
Criminal: Exploitation of a vulnerable adult
Proceedings below: Following a bench trial, Appellant was convicted and sentenced to probation.
Issues: 1) Whether the district court erred in concluding the essential element of exploitation of a vulnerable adult did not require proof a financial crime or theft, 2) whether the district court erred in failing to make sufficient conclusions of law to support its guilty verdict as required by the express conditions of the Appellant’s jury waiver, 3) whether the evidence was insufficient as a matter of fact and law to support the guilty verdict on exploitation of a vulnerable adult, 4) whether the district court erred in concluding that the offense of exploitation of a vulnerable adult could be based upon negligence or a mere breach of a fiduciary duty, 5) whether the evidence was insufficient as a matter of fact and law to establish that the Appellant committed a criminal act, with sufficient mens rea or criminal intent to support her conviction for a felony offense, and 6) to the extent that the Appellant's conviction under Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-386 and Neb. Rev. Stat. §28-358 did not require proof of criminal intent or mens rea, those provisions are unconstitutional as applied.