Also known as: theft · thefts · larceny · embezzlement · false pretenses
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A category of criminal offenses involving the unlawful acquisition or misuse of property belonging to another. These offenses include larceny by trespassory taking with intent to permanently deprive, embezzlement by intentional conversion of property lawfully held, and robbery by theft accompanied by infliction or threat of serious bodily injury.
Tiana Tan enters a convenience store and grabs cash from the register. When the clerk confronts her, Tiana strikes the clerk with a heavy object causing serious injury before fleeing. The blow during the taking satisfies the force element that elevates the theft to robbery.
Tonya Takahashi lawfully receives customer payments as office manager for a small firm. She deposits the funds into her personal account instead of the company account and spends them on personal expenses. The initial lawful possession followed by the unauthorized use constitutes embezzlement rather than larceny.
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Tanner Thompson borrows money secured by a negotiable note on his home. After the original lender loses the note to theft, the assignee attempts foreclosure without proving entitlement to enforce the lost instrument. The assignee cannot proceed until satisfying the lost-instrument requirements.
Talia Torres steals a motorcycle valued at under five hundred dollars. Because the property is a motor-propelled vehicle, the offense is graded as a third-degree felony regardless of the amount involved.
Tobias Thomas, a newspaper reporter, obtains and sells pre-publication business information belonging to his employer. The scheme deprives the employer of its exclusive right to use the information first, supporting liability for theft-related fraud.
Thomas Thompson is convicted of grand theft. The court increases the sentence based on a finding that the theft was committed with racial bias. The bias finding must be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt before it can raise the maximum penalty.
Embezzlement requires that the defendant initially acquire or hold the property lawfully and then convert it while in lawful possession. Larceny requires a trespassory taking at the moment of acquisition from someone with a superior right of possession.
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Theft is a felony of the third degree if the amount exceeds five hundred dollars or if the property is a firearm, automobile, or other listed motor-propelled vehicle. Theft by receiving is also a felony when the receiver is in the business of buying or selling stolen property.
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No. Under common law a defendant may not invoke factual impossibility as a defense to conspiracy. The agreement and intent to commit the unlawful act remain sufficient even when external facts make completion impossible.
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The party must satisfy the lost-instrument requirements, including proving the terms of the note and that it was entitled to enforce the note when the loss occurred, before commencing foreclosure.
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…in intrastate commerce); Perez, supra , at 150 ("[F]or example, the destruction of an aircraft (18 U. S. C. § 32), or . . . thefts from interstate shipments (18 U. S. C. § 659)"). Finally, Congress' commerce authority includes the power to regulate those activities having a substantial relation to interstate commerce,…