Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Smalley, 220 N.C. App. 142 (Apr. 17, 2012)
(1) In an embezzlement case in which the defendant was alleged to have improperly written company checks to herself, there was sufficient evidence that the defendant was an agent of the company and not an independent contractor. Two essential elements of an agency relationship are the authority of the agent to act on behalf of the principal and the principal’s control over the agent. Here, the defendant had authority to act on behalf of the corporation because she had full access to the company’s checking accounts, could write checks on her own, and delegated the company’s funds. Evidence of the company’s control over the defendant included that she was expected to meet several responsibilities and that a member of the company communicated with her several times a week. (2) There was sufficient evidence that the defendant had constructive possession of the corporation’s money when she was given complete access to the corporation’s accounts and was able to write checks on behalf of the corporation and to delegate where the corporation’s money went.