Also known as: asportation requirements · asportation · carrying away requirement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The carrying-away element of common law larceny that is satisfied when the defendant moves all or part of the property, however slightly, during the process of removing it from the victim's possession.
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Anthony Arnold diverted a pallet of tablets from its assigned route and hid it in a secluded warehouse corner. After his shift he loaded several boxes into his car and drove away. The brief relocation of the pallet and the subsequent loading of boxes into the vehicle satisfied the asportation requirement because the property was moved however slightly as part of carrying it away.
Leo packed high-value cameras from the university lab into his car and drove them to his apartment for a personal project. The act of removing the equipment from the cabinet and transporting it off campus completed the carrying-away step. Even a short distance of movement met the asportation requirement once control was obtained.
Victor reached into a coworker's locker, grasped the laptop, and lifted it several inches with the intent to steal it. When the coworker appeared he dropped the device back into the locker. The momentary lifting of the laptop from its resting place satisfied the asportation requirement because any movement of the property, however slight, counts during the carrying-away process.
No. The requirement is satisfied by any movement of all or part of the property, however slight, when performed as part of the carrying-away process.
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Yes. The element focuses on whether the defendant moved the property during the removal process, not on whether the property crossed a property line or left the building.
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No. Taking requires obtaining actual control over the property. Asportation requires a subsequent or concurrent movement of the property as part of carrying it away.
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…of which, under section twelve hundred and ninety of the penal law, was denominated a larceny, to wit: common law larceny by asportation, common law larceny by trick and device, obtaining property by false pretenses, and embezzlement.” [^maj-34]: Cf. Morgan, Instructing the Jury Upon Presumptions and Burden of Proof, 47…