State v. Holmes, Minn.Ct.App., 8/17/10. Mr. Holmes restores barns. The state charged him with theft by non-payment for improvements under Minn. Stat. 514.02. I kid you not. The gist of the charge was that he received payment for improvement of real estate but failed to use the proceeds for those improvements.
It turns out that the crime here is to receive payments for improvement of real estate and then fail to pay others for labor, skills, material, or machinery contributed for the improvement. It’s apparently okay to take the money and just run.
Mr. Holmes agreed to restore I.B.’s barn; she gave him money. Delays occurred and the work didn’t get started as expected. Winter set in and Mr. Holmes couldn’t do the job while the ground was frozen. He promised I.B. to start work as soon as the ground thawed. Mr. Holmes never obtained any labor, skill, material, or machinery from anyone for I.B.’s barn project.
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