Also known as: larceny by trick · larceny by device · theft by trick · larceny by deception
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A common law theft offense committed when a defendant obtains possession or custody of another's tangible personal property by means of a misrepresentation that vitiates the victim's consent and renders the taking trespassory.
Lola Langley told Luis Lopez that she needed to borrow his laptop for one afternoon to complete a shared work assignment. Relying on that statement, Luis handed the laptop to Lola for temporary use only. Lola immediately drove away with the device and sold it later that day.
Lamar Lewis approached Lily Lopez at a storage facility and claimed he had been sent by the owner to retrieve a single crate for inspection. Believing the story, Lily allowed Lamar to load one crate into his truck. Lamar instead drove the crate to a distant warehouse and kept it.
In December 1948, Morissette went hunting on a large tract of land in Michigan that the Government had used as a practice bombing range for the Air Force. Spent bomb casings from the range had been dumped into heaps and left exposed to the weather for four years or more. Morissette collected three tons of the casings, flattened them at a nearby farm, and sold them for eighty-four dollars. Morissette worked as a fruit stand operator in the summer and as a trucker and scrap iron collector in the winter. He was an honorably discharged veteran of World War II who had a good reputation among his neighbors. He loaded the casings onto his truck and transported them in broad daylight without any effort to conceal what he was doing. When authorities began an investigation, Morissette voluntarily and candidly told them the whole story, explaining that he believed the casings were abandoned and that he had no intention of stealing them. He was indicted for unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly stealing and converting property of the United States valued at eighty-four dollars in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641. At trial, the District Court refused to permit Morissette to show that he thought the property was abandoned or to argue that he lacked criminal intent. The court instructed the jury that if it believed the government testimony, Morissette was guilty, and the jury convicted him. The court sentenced him to two months in prison or a fine of two hundred dollars. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseLarceny by trick occurs when the victim intends to convey only possession or custody. False pretenses requires that the victim intend to transfer title. Courts look to the interest the victim meant to pass when deciding which offense applies.
Supporting sources
No. When a defendant secures consent to possession through a material misrepresentation about a present fact, the law treats the consent as invalid. The taking therefore remains trespassory and satisfies the larceny element.
Supporting sources
…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.” : Cf. Morgan, Instructing the Jury Upon Presumptions and Burden of Proof, 47 Harv. L. Rev. 59; Morgan, Some…