Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
Former Albany County Attorney Richard Bohling is asking a district court judge to acquit him of his recent four felony charges.
A jury in the district court found Bohling guilty of purchasing property with government money under false pretense on Nov. 7. The trial lasted two weeks.
Bohling’s defense lawyers John Robinson of Casper and John Labuda of Pinedale asked the district court judge to overturn the conviction, saying the evidence was insufficient.
Robinson said Bohling was never in possession of the items, and the evidence does not prove he was.
“A conviction for obtaining property by false pretenses requires proof that title to the property passed to a defendant, as an element of the offense,” Robinson and LaBuda wrote in their appeal to the judge.
Robinson also claimed Bohling often took home the cameras he purchased with government funds in order to get familiar with the cameras. He encouraged those he worked with to do so as well, due to the department having to throw out poor photo evidence for other cases in the past.
The cameras came into question after the Division of Criminal Investigation discovered them during their “silent audit” on Bohling in the spring. The audit uncovered about $20,000 worth of property.
According to the Daily Journal, the district court judge said in a written response to the appeal, there is no legal requirement for the state to show the title to the disputed property ever passed over to Bohling.
A final decision on the appeal has yet to be made.
