Theft Flashcards
Robbery Elements
- Larceny
- From the person or presence of the victim
- By force or threat of force
Larceny
Elements
Actus Reus
- Trespassory
- Taking of possession
- And carrying away
- Of personal property
- From another’s possession
Mens Rea
- With intent to steal it permanently
Larceny
Trespassory
The possession must be taken without the consent of the victim or in the absence of a justification for the nonconsensual dispossession.
Larceny
Possessorial Immunity
If there is a consensual transfer of possession, then the recipient is not liable under larceny law no matter what she does with the property
Larceny
Taking of Possession`
This is generally thought of as acquiring physical control.
Larceny
Carrying Away
Courts have interpreted this asportation requirement to be statified by the slightest carrying away movement.
Given how easily this requirement is satified, the MPC eliminates it
Larceny
Personal Property
Larceny does not include the taking of real property, only property that is not attached to the land.
Larceny covers the trespassory taking of domesticated or wild animals that are confined, but not animals in the state of nature.
Larceny only covers tangible personal property
Larceny
From Another’s Possession
This is about possession, not ownership. Property can be possessed by having physical control over it or by exercising control or dominion over it.
Larceny
Intent to Steal
To be liable for larceny, the defendant must intend to steal the property.
Intent to steal is a dual mens rea:
- intent to take and carry away property that is in another’s possession without that person’ss ntent and
- intent to permanently deprive the person of that property
However, if temporary deprivation leads to loss of a portion of the property’s value, a defendant might be liable for larceny of that portion
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Actus Reus
- Trepassory
- Larceny by Trick (doctrine)
- False Pretenses (crime)
- Taking of Possesion
- Breaking the Bale / Bulk (doctrine)
- Custody (doctrine)
- Embezzlement (crime)
Mens Rea
- With Intent to Steal
- Continuing Trepass (doctrine)
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Breaking of the Bale / Balk
Bailment
Contractual relationship in which possession of property is given for a particular purpose.
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Breaking of the Bale / Balk
Bailor
`Person who gives possession to the bailee
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Breaking of the Bale / Balk
Bailee
Person who receives possession
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Breaking of the Bale / Balk
The bailee has possession of the container but only custody of the contents of the container.
If he opens the container, he then takes trespassory posssession of the contents
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Custody
When a person having possession gives another person physical control over that property for a limited purpose,
- then, even though the recipient has phyisical control over the property
- the recipient is deemed to only have custody of the property.
The initial possessor still has constructive possession over the property
A person in physical control of property if he
- has temporary and extremely limited authorization to use the property (no contractual relationship)
- received the property from his employer for use in the employment relation
- is a bailee of goods enclosed in a container or
- obtained the property by fraud
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Custody
Non-Contractual Relationship
When there is no contractual relationship between the two parties, the person taking custody of the property is deemed to take possession if it if she leaves the intial possessor’s physical vincinity.
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Custody
Employment
When an employer gives an employee physical possession of property, the employer retains contructive possession and the employee only has custody, even if he leaves the employer’s physcal vicinity.
This continues as long as the employee uses the property in an authorized manner.
If te employee uses the property in an unauthorized manner, he takes possession of it.
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Embezzlement
The elements are
- A non-trespassory taking of personal property
- Entrustment
- Fraudulent conversion of property
Closing Larceny Loopholes
False Pretenses
The elements are
- using false representations of fact to
- obtain title of another’s personal property
- with intent to defraud
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Larcent by Trick (Fraud)
If the person taking consensual possession of property intentionally deceived the inital possessor about a material fact (defrauded), the jury may deem the seemingly consensual transfer as trespassory.
For this to apply, the jury must find that the intent to steal existed at the time the recipient was taking possession.
Closing Larceny Loopholes
Continuing Trespass
When the inital taking of property is trespassory, the non-consensual nature of the taking continues throughout the time of possession.
So even if the intent to steal is formed later, there will be concurrence of the elements.
Larceny
Acting With Lawful Justification
A person is not liable for larceny if she acts with lawful justification.
This generally refers to when law enforcement officers seize property
Larceny
Lost Property
If a person finds lost property, she must take reasonable steps to return the property to the owner if the property is found under circumstances that
- reveal who the owner is or
- give reason to believe that the owner’s identity can be determined.
In such circumstances, the owner (or prior possessor) is deemed to have constructive possession of the property
Larceny
Mislaid Property
An owner of mislaid property is deemed to retain contructive possession of it because he probably will come looking for it. If someone finds it and takes it with intent to steal, it’s larceny. But if he picks it up with honest intentions, it’s not.
Larceny
Taking From a Thief
Generally, it does not matter for larceny that the person from whom possession is taken without consent had no right to possess the property to begin with.
Larceny
Claim of Right
If one trespassorily takes possession believing wrongly, but in good faith, that she has a right to possess the property, then she is acting under claim of right. In such situations, the defendant is not liable for larceny because she does not have the intent to steal.
In many jurisdictions claims of right are inapplicable if the defendant uses force to take property.
Larceny
Claim of Right
Forced Sale
If someone takes property that was not for sale with the intent to pay for it, he should be convicted of larceny, especially when the person knows the initial possessor had no intention of selling the property.
