Property Offenses

Question 1

Larceny

Answer 1

Larceny consists of:

1. A taking (obtaining control);
2. And carrying away (asporation);
3. Of tangible personal property (excludes realty, services, and intangibles, but includes written instruments embodying intangible rights such as stock certificates);
4. Of another with possession;
5. By trespass (without consent or by consent induced by fraud);
6. With intent to permanently deprive that person of her interest in the property (at the time of the taking)
   * Must be taken from another person not larceny if D had possession of the property at the time of the taking. But may be embezzlement

Question 2

Custody v. Possession (Larceny)

Answer 2

Possession involves a greater scope of authority to deal with the property than does custody. Low level employees have only custody of an employer’s property and so are guilty of larceny for taking it, generally.

Question 3

Baliee and Breaking Bulk (Larceny)

Answer 3

A bailee has possession and thus may be guilty of embezzlement if she takes the property. However, if the bailee open closed containers in which the property has been placed by the bailor (“braking bulk”), the possession is regarded, by use of a fiction, as returning to the bailor, and thus the bailee may then be guilty of larceny if she takes that property.

Question 4

Intent to Permanently Deprive (Larceny)

Answer 4

Sufficient Intent: An intent to create a substantial risk of loss, or an intent to sell or pledge the goods to the owner, is sufficient for larceny.

Insufficient Intent: Where the D believes that the property she is taking is hers or where she intends only to borrow the property or to keep it as repayment of a debt, there is no larceny.

Possibly Sufficient Intent: There may be larceny where the D intends to pay for the goods or intends to collect a reward from the owner

Question 5

Abandoned, Lost, or Mislaid Property (Larceny)

Answer 5

Larceny can be committed with lost or mislaid property or property that has been delivered by mistake, but not with abandoned property

Question 6

Continuing Trespass Situation (Larceny)

Answer 6

If the D wrongfully takes property without the intent to permanently deprive, and later decides to keep th property, she is guilty of larceny when she decides to keep it. However, if the original taking was not wrongful, and she later decides to keep it, it is not larceny.

Question 7

Embezzlement

Answer 7

Embezzlement is:

1. The fraudulent;
2. Conversion (dealing with the property in a manner inconsistent with the arrangement by which D has possession)
3. Of personal property
4. Of another;
5. By a person unlawful possession of that property

Question 8

Difference between Embezzlement & Larceny

Answer 8

In ebezzlement, the D misappropriates property hile it is in his rightful possession, while in larceny the D misappropriated property not in his possession

Question 9

Embezzlement Intent

Answer 9

Must have intent to defraud.

If D intends to restore the exact property taken, it is not embezzlement; intent to return similar property is still embezzlement

Embezzlement is not committed if the conversion is pursuant to a claim of right to the property. Whether D took the property openly is an important factor.

Question 10

False Pretenses

Answer 10

The offense of false pretenses is:

1. Obtaining title;
2. to personal property of another
3. by intentional false statement of a past or existing fact
4. with intent to defraud the other

• The victim must have been deceived y, or act in reliance on the misrepresentation and this must be a major factor of the victim passing title to the D.

*

Question 11

Larceny by Trick

Answer 11

If the victim is tricked y a misrepresentation of fact, into giving up mere custody of property, the crime is larceny by trick. If the victim is tricked into giving up title to the property, the crime is false pretenses.

Question 12

Robbery

Answer 12

Robbery consists of:

1. A taking
2. of personal property of another
3. from the other’s person or presence (including anywhere in his vicinity)
4. y force or threats of immediate death or physical injury
5. with the intent to permanently deprive him of it

Question 13

Difference between robbery and larceny

Answer 13

To be guilty of robbery, the victim must give up her property because she feels threatened. If she gives up her property for another reason, the D will no be guilty of robbery. His might be guilty of attempted robbery though

Robbery requires that the D use force or threats to obtain or retain the victim’s property.

Question 14

Extortion

Answer 14

CL; Corruption collection of an unlawful fee by an officer nder color of office

Modern: Blackmail; Often consists of obtaining property by means of threats to do harm or to expose information. Under some statutes, the crime is complete when threats are made with the intent to obtain property, the property need not be obtained

Question 15

Difference between robbery and extortion

Answer 15

In extortion the threats may be of future harm and the taking does not have to be in the presence of the victim

Question 16

Receipt of Stolen Property

Answer 16

Consists of:

1. Receiving possession and control;
2. Of stolen personal property
3. Known to have been obtained in a manner consistutng a criminal offense
4. By another person
5. with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of his interest in it

*D possesses property when it is in a location designated by her or she arranges a sale for the theif to a third party
(fencing)

*Property must be stolen property at th time the D received it

Question 17

Theft

Answer 17

Under many modern statutes and the MPC, some or all of the above property offenses are combined and defined as the rime of theft

Question 18

Forgery

Answer 18

Consists of the following:

1. Making or altering (by drafting, adding, or deleting)
2. A writing with apparent legal signifcance (ex: contracting, not a painting)
3. so that its false; representing that it is something that it is not, not merely containing a misrepresentation
4. With intent to defraud (although no one need actually have been defrauded)

*Forgery has been committed if D fraudulently causes a third person to sign a document that the third person doesnt realize he is signing. But if the third person realizes he is signing the document, forgery has ot been committed even if the third person was induced by fraud to sign it.

Question 19

Uttering a Forged Instrument

Answer 19

Uttering a forged instrument consists of:

1. Offering as genuine
2. an instrument that may be subject of forgery and is false
3. with intent to defraud

Question 20

Malicious Mischief

Answer 20

Consists of:

1. The malicious
2. Destruction of or damage to
3. The property of another

Malice required no ill will or hatred. It does, however, require that the damage or destruction have been intended or contemplated by the D