A federal appeals court reinstated the fraud conviction of a former Miss Montana who authorities said bilked her homeowner’s insurance for living expenses while her mansion was undergoing repairs.
Christin D. Didier was convicted in April 2013 after authorities said she collected nearly $123,000 for temporary housing by saying she was renting a five-bedroom home with an in-ground pool for $15,000 a month when she was actually living in a family-owned cabin with no indoor plumbing.
Defense attorney Colin Stephens argued at trial that Didier’s actions weren’t an attempt to cheat the insurance company but were instead due to mental impairment caused by carbon monoxide poisoning she suffered when a company repairing fire and wind damage at her Somers home in 2008 used diesel generators.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy vacated the conviction in July 2013, saying the insurance company owed Didier an amount sufficient to maintain her standard of living whether she used the money for housing or not. He said there was no evidence that Chubb Corp. paid Didier any more money than she was due under her policy.
Federal prosecutors appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled Monday that the carrier was required to pay for a reasonable increase in Didier’s living expenses for any losses covered under her policy and that Didier misrepresented her expenses.
“Even if the amount of expenses claimed would have been reasonable had Didier actually incurred them, the policy requirement of an ‘increase’ made Didier’s misrepresentations material,” the appeals court wrote.
The decision sends the case back to Molloy’s court.
Didier won the Miss Montana USA title in 1997. She bought the mansion in 2005 for $1.1 million. She was foreclosed upon in February 2011.