08-03-09 STATE v. WASHINGTON A-2533-07T4

In this case, defendant was charged with the unlawful
taking of the monies of an elderly person who resided in
defendant's home. We held that the trial court correctly
instructed the jury as to the manner in which it could aggregate
the alleged thefts for purposes of determining the grade of the
offense pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:20-2b(4). We also held that the
trial court correctly instructed the jury on three different
types of theft even though the indictment only charged theft by
unlawful taking because, under N.J.S.A. 2C:20-2a, a defendant
may be found guilty if his or her conduct constitutes "theft"
under any provision of Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code.

Chase Smith assistant editor