Page 24 Flashcards
What is the time period required for a taking for larceny?
Any period of time
What are the two ways you can take control over property for larceny?
Do it yourself, or direct another person to do it
If you are in a wine shop and see a bottle of wine very high up, and you tell your friend to distract the clerk so that you can rock the shelf, with intent for the bottle to fall, and your friend to catch it, but it falls on the opposite side and breaks. Is that a taking under larceny?
No, because you never got control of the bottle
If you go to a wine shop, shake a shelf with intent for a bottle to fall, the bottle falls and you catch it, then take one step, and it drops and breaks, is that a larceny?
Yes, because you exercised control over the bottle
What is required for the carrying away element of larceny?
Slight movement is all that is necessary
What are the different ways that you can carry away property for larceny?
Ride away on an animal, pushing, pulling, driving away, etc.
In order to have a carrying away for larceny, the item can be moved just a slight distance so long as what?
Every part of the item is moved
Does an item have to leave the owner’s property in order for larceny to occur?
No
What do the MPC modern statutes say about carrying away for larceny?
They do away with asportation and only require unlawful control of the property
What is the purpose of the asportation requirement for larceny?
To verify objectively the thief’s dominion over the property
Can starting a car engine be enough for asportation for larceny?
Yes, if it verifies objectively the thief’s dominion over the property
If a homeless woman enters a grocery store, picks up a steak with intent to steal, then decides not to and puts it back, has a larceny occurred?
Yes, because she took control of the steak coupled with the intent to complete the crime
If you trick someone into doing the carrying portion of the larceny, how does that affect your guilt?
That person becomes an innocent agent of you and the asportation is attributable to you
When might a court dispense with actual movement for larceny?
If there was complete possession and control over the object
There is a higher penalty for larceny that happens from where?
A person’s body or home
If a larceny happens from a person’s body or home, the items must be moved where?
Off the person’s body, or out of the building
If you move an item with intent to steal it, and then later put it back, can that undo the crime?
No
If there is no carrying away or movement of the property, there is what?
No larceny, although there might be attempted larceny
What are the two different views on personal property for larceny?
- Common law: must be tangible items
- Modern and MPC: any property of value that can be moved
According to common law for the personal property aspect of larceny, how are real and intangible property treated?
They do not count because they’re not tangible items
At common-law, items that can be severed from property don’t count for larceny unless what?
They are severed and removed in two different actions
If you break into Nintendo headquarters and download their new game, is that larceny according to CL?
No, because the property was intangible
What are some examples of things that count as personal property according to the modern law and MPC of larceny?
Gas, services, contraband
Why are things like wire transfers, passing bad checks, misappropriation of funds, pirating patent secrets and other intangible personal property not included for larceny?
Because at common law they have to be tangible items, and modern law says they have to be able to be taken and carried away
Why doesn’t larceny of real property count?
Because it isn’t a tangible item that can be taken and carried away
Modernly how can property that is attached to land be converted into personal property for larceny?
When it is severed and carried away
How did larceny apply to the theft of contraband?
If it has value and belongs to a person with a superior right of possession
Are roaming animals considered personal property for larceny?
- CL: farm animals that roam are personal property, but pets can’t be stolen because they aren’t possessed
- Modernly: all domesticated animals are owned and can be stolen
At modern law wild animals are the personal property of whom?
The land occupier where the animal is located
If you shoot a pheasant on your land, who does it belong to?
You, but if it flies onto your neighbor’s land after you shoot it and dies there, it is your neighbor’s
Can fixtures of realty be subject to larceny?
No
What is a fixture of realty?
Any article that was a chattle at one point, but now is attached to the soil and becomes part of the real estate
What is an example of a fixture of realty?
Truffles that are growing
Can wild animals or abandoned property count for larceny?
No, because the property must belong to another
If you own property that is in the lawful possession of someone else, who has the rights to it?
Other person
If you take your own property that is in the lawful possession of someone else, what have you done?
Committed a larceny
If you take your car to a repair shop, and come back and get it without paying for it, what have you done?
You have stolen it because it was in the legal possession of the garage until you paid your bill
Is it possible to steal from another thief?
Yes, because theft can happen even if the victim’s interest in the property was unlawful
What is mere custody?
Very limited use in control of goods
Who generally has mere custody of goods?
Servants and other low-level employees when property is delivered to them by an employer
If an employee decides to keep property that he has mere custody of, what has happened?
There has been a violation of the constructive possession of the employer and he has committed larceny
If a defendant only has custody of an item, any theft at any time is considered to be what?
A trespassory taking
If someone with mere custody of an item steals it, what is the crime?
Larceny, or larceny by trick. Never false pretenses or embezzlement
What does possession mean for larceny?
You have authority or discretion over the employer’s property
Who generally has possession?
Higher level employees
If you decide to keep an item that you have possession of, what crime have you committed?
Embezzlement
What would be a good indication that you have possession of property?
If you are authorized to take and use the property away from the business location
What are some typical items that higher level employees often have possession of?
Laptops, company cars
If you steal an item from someone that was leasing it, is that still larceny?
Yes, because larceny is a crime of possession, so all that matters is that property was stolen from the person who had possession
Do bookkeepers usually have possession of company funds?
Yes
When employees are given property from a third-party for their employer, is that possession or custody?
Possession, so if they take that property it is embezzlement
If you are given property from a third-party for your employer, you usually have possession except when?
- if the transaction was completed in the victim’s presence
- if the employee put the property in a receptacle
If an employee gets temporary access to property to complete some action with it while the victim is present, does he have custody or possession?
Mere custody, and the victim retains constructive possession
If you give a ring to a jeweler to repair it, do they have mere custody or possession?
Mere custody
If an employee is given property by a third-party and puts it in a location designated by the employer for that property, what happens at that moment?
Possession passes to the employer, so if the defendant takes it, it is larceny
Anytime a servant or low-level employee steals property from an employer, what is the crime?
Larceny, unless a third-party gave it to him to give to the master and the servant accepted possession with an honest intention of giving it to the master
The more free you are with property that has been entrusted to you, is it more likely that you had custody or possession?
Possession
If your boss gives you a laptop and says it is only for work related things and it must stay at work, do you have custody or possession?
Custody
If your boss gives you a laptop and says you can do whatever you want with it, do you have custody or possession?
Possession
What is an example of a situation where the customer would maintain constructive possession?
Taking your car for an oil change when you wait in the shop
What are the elements of larceny?
- trespassory
- taking
- and carrying away
- of the personal property
- of another
- with intent to permanently deprive
