State v. Beeson

── State v. Beeson ── Court: Court of Appeals of Kansas Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION No. 128,504 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. MADISON BEESON, Appellant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Lyon District Court; JEFFRY J. LARSON, judge. Submitted without oral argument. Opinion filed June 5, 2026. Affirmed. Randall L. Hodgkinson, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant. Ashley McGee, assistant county attorney, Amy Aranda, county attorney, and Kris W. Kobach, attorney general, for appellee. Before GARDNER, P.J., MALONE and ATCHESON, JJ. MALONE, J.: Madison Beeson appeals her convictions of theft and unlawful possession of a tool to remove theft detection devices. Beeson claims: (1) The district court erred by allowing the State to amend the complaint on the morning of the trial by expanding the dates one of the charges was committed; (2) the district court erred by failing to properly instruct the jury on the burden of proof relating to permissive inferences; (3) the district court erred by instructing the jury on aiding and abetting; and (4) there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction of unlawful possession of a 1 tool to remove theft detection devices. After thoroughly reviewing the record and the parties' arguments, we find no reversible error and affirm the district court's judgment. Factual and procedural background On April 1, 2024, Emporia police officers responded to a report of shoplifting at a Wal-Mart. The officers were informed that Beeson and her boyfriend, Edgar Bedolla, had shoplifted on several days. According to video evidence at the Wal-Mart, on February 4, 2024, Beeson and Bedolla stole an "Alpha Key," which is a universal key that allows store employees to unlock products that have theft detection devices attached to them. The two suspects were not stopped on that day. Beeson and Bedolla returned on March 5, 2024, where they used the Alpha Key to steal jewelry locked in anti-theft boxes. They returned again on March 25 and April 1, 2024, where they stole several more items and were eventually confronted by store employees, who called the police. On April 15, 2024, the State charged Beeson with one count of misdemeanor theft of various items from the Wal-Mart and one count of unlawful possession of a tool to remove theft detection devices, a severity level 9 nonperson felony. The original complaint alleged the unlawful possession count occurred on or about March 5, 2024. The case proceeded to a jury trial on September 16, 2024. At the beginning of trial, before the jury was empaneled, the State moved to amend the complaint to expand the dates on which the unlawful possession count occurred to include from February 4, 2024, to March 5, 2024. Beeson's trial counsel acknowledged on the record that he and the prosecutor had emailed back and forth about the amendment "last week." Beeson's counsel argued that the State had ample time to amend the complaint earlier. Counsel also argued that "we believe that allowing an amended complaint of this nature at this time unfairly prejudices the defendant and the planned defenses that she has," but counsel did not elaborate how the amendment would prejudice Beeson. The State responded that 2 Beeson had "the same discovery that the State has and was aware of the date ranges with the charging affidavit" and that caselaw supported an amendment before trial. The district court, without additional explanation, ruled, "Court will allow the amendment." The State called four witnesses. Ryan Rodri