State v. Henderson
Annotate this Case
The case involves Kimberly Ann Henderson, who was convicted of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and attempted theft. Henderson worked for Home Helpers, an agency that assists elderly people. During her time there, she was assigned to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper and had access to their financial information. The State alleged she used the Coopers’ financial accounts to pay her bills and make personal purchases. She was charged with exploitation of an eligible adult and criminal attempt of theft of property, with the value of the funds in question exceeding $50,000 and $10,000 respectively.
At trial, the State presented testimony from four witnesses and submitted thirteen exhibits, including financial documents, receipts, an eviction notice, surveillance photos from multiple businesses, and a video of an interview with Henderson. Henderson objected to the admissibility of 12 exhibits, arguing they were not properly authenticated and were inadmissible hearsay. The District Court overruled these objections and admitted the exhibits. The jury subsequently convicted Henderson on both counts.
On appeal, the Supreme Court of North Dakota found that the District Court had abused its discretion by admitting the exhibits without proper authentication and as inadmissible hearsay. The Supreme Court held that the testimony did not satisfy the requirements of Rule 803(6)(D), N.D.R.Ev. which provides a hearsay exception for records kept in the regular course of business. The Court found that the detective's testimony did not explain how the exhibits came into existence in the ordinary course of business, nor did the record contain an affidavit that could have rendered them self-authenticating. Given these pervasive errors and considering a set value was alleged in each count, the judgment was reversed.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.