Also known as: take and carry away · taking & carrying away · asportation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The physical acts that complete the actus reus of common law larceny. They consist of caption, by which the defendant obtains actual control over tangible personal property, and asportation, by which the defendant moves the property however slightly as part of removing it from the victim's possession.
Frankie reached into an open communal bin on a construction site and removed five marked power tools belonging to South Development. He placed each tool inside his zipped personal backpack and lifted the pack off the ground. Frankie then carried the backpack thirty feet across the gravel lot before a supervisor stopped him. The acts of removing the tools and moving them inside the closed pack satisfied both caption and asportation.
Malik scanned a pallet of tablets as loaded onto his truck and pushed the pallet from its storage position onto the dock plate at his assigned bay. The movement placed the pallet under his direct physical control and outside the ordinary warehouse storage area. A supervisor later ordered the pallet returned, but the repositioning had already occurred. The scan and push together completed the required taking and carrying away.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Maya removed a designer jacket from a store display rack while off duty and put it on. She walked out of the store wearing the jacket without paying or notifying any employee. The removal from the rack gave her control, and walking through the exit moved the jacket away from the store's possession. Both elements of taking and carrying away were met at the moment she left the premises.
Colin lifted a sealed box of specialized components from its storage pallet and carried it twenty feet to a concealed spot behind empty pallets in the same loading bay. The relocation removed the box from its designated position and placed it where only Colin knew its location. Although the box never left the employer's premises, the movement and concealment satisfied the taking and carrying away requirements.
Yes. The asportation element is met when the defendant moves all or part of the property however slightly as part of the carrying-away process. Courts have held that carrying a backpack containing stolen tools thirty feet or pushing a pallet onto a dock plate both qualify.
Supporting sources
Control is obtained once the defendant exercises dominion over the property inconsistent with the owner's rights, even if the property never leaves the premises. Placing items inside a zipped backpack or sliding stickers into a briefcase on the counter both complete the taking element.
Supporting sources
No. The elements focus on whether the defendant gained actual control and moved the property, not on whether the property crossed a property line. Courts have found the elements satisfied when property was concealed inside the same facility or carried only a short distance within the premises.
Supporting sources
Mere movement or destruction does not satisfy the taking requirement unless the defendant thereby gains control over the property. The defendant must secure the ability to exercise dominion, such as by placing items inside a closed container or relocating them to a hidden location.
Supporting sources
…F. 2d 562 (C. A. 5th Cir.), to which the dissent below referred at some length. The appellant there was convicted of feloniously taking and carrying away certain personal property of the United States in violation of § 46 of the Criminal Code, 18 U. S. C. (1940 ed.) § 99, and had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He argued that…