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Brown v. State7/1/2004
Monica Brown was indicted in 1997 on two counts of theft by taking and five counts of criminal attempt to commit theft by taking. The trial court dismissed the theft by taking counts and one criminal attempt count based on improper venue. Brown was convicted of the remaining four counts on June 29, 2001. The court sentenced her to concurrent five-year terms, to be served on probation. She filed several pro se pleadings, one of which the trial court construed as a motion for new trial and denied on April 2, 2003. She appeals from the denial of her new trial motion. We affirm.
1. We first address Brown's eighth enumerated error, in which she contends that the evidence was insufficient to support her convictions.
On appeal of a guilty verdict, [Brown] no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence, for the jury has heard the evidence and judged its weight and the credibility of witnesses; the evidence is construed so as to uphold the jury's verdict, and on appeal we do not redetermine the factual issues decided by the jury nor the weight of the evidence, but we only determine its sufficiency under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia .
Viewed in its proper light, the evidence shows that in March of 1994, Brown established a nonprofit corporation called "Let's Act" and appointed herself as its president. "Let's Act" was designed to be a "scared straight" type of program for underprivileged youths. At the time Brown founded "Let's Act," she was employed full-time with the travel services division of American Express.
Ellen Craig, the manager of the gift matching programs for The American Express Foundation, testified that the Foundation administered two employee gift matching programs for full-time American Express employees. Craig explained that one such program, called the "Volunteer Action Fund Program," rewarded volunteer participation in nonprofit organizations by matching dollar donations up to a two-to-one ratio. To obtain the double matching funds, the employee was required to fill out a form and submit it with his or her contribution to the nonprofit organization, which would sign the form and then send in the application to an outsourcing vendor, who would verify that the organization was nonprofit and that the donor was a full-time employee . The outsourcing vendor would then send verification to American Express. The checks were sent directly to the employee to present to the organization, and a letter was sent to the employee's manager to allow for recognition of the donation.
The state introduced into evidence an application submitted by Brown on June 15, 1995, and a second application submitted by Brown's co-worker, Dwayne Baughn, on August 8, 1995, each indicating that the applicant had donated $1,000 to "Let's Act" and were requesting double matching funds. Kimberly Myles, the executive director of "Let's Act," signed and submitted both applications, and the Foundation disbursed $4,000 to "Let's Act" on October 2, 1995. Several more applications were submitted by Brown, Baughn, and Terrence Barron, another co-worker, all of which were signed by Myles. Brown left American Express in July of 1995, but received a three month severance package, during which time she was still considered to be a full-time employee .
After granting the matching funds from Brown's June 15 application, the Foundation sent a copy of the transmittal letter to her former supervisor, who contacted Craig to inform her that Brown was no longer employed with American Express. Internal security began an investigation of "Let's Act," and Craig eventually contacted Brown for confirmation that the donations were actually made. In response, in early April of 1996, Cra
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