Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law, where in many cases it remains in force.
The crime of larceny has been abolished in England, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, broken up into the specific crimes of burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and related crimes. However, larceny remains an offence in parts of the United States, Jersey, and in New South Wales, Australia, involving the taking and carrying away of personal property without the owner's consent and without intending to return it.
Etymology
The word "larceny" is a late Middle English word, from the French word larcin, "theft". Its probable Latin root is latrocinium, a derivative of latro, "robber".By nation
Australia
New South Wales
In the state of New South Wales, the common law offence of larceny is punishable with up to 5 years' imprisonment. Whilst section 117 of the New South Wales Crimes Act 1900 specifies the punishment for larceny, it is silent on the elements of the offence, leaving them to be articulated by the common law. The leading authority on larceny in NSW is the High Court of Australia case of Ilich v R. This case stipulates the mens rea and actus reus elements required to be proven by the prosecution for a successful conviction.Ireland
The common law offence of larceny was abolished on 1 August 2002. However, proceedings for larceny committed before its abolition are not affected by this.United Kingdom
England and Wales
The common law offence of larceny was codified by the Larceny Act 1916. It was abolished on 1 January 1969, for all purposes not relating to offences committed before that date. It has been replaced by the broader offence of theft under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968. This offence did incorporate some of the terminology and substance of larceny. Despite the offence's being abolished in England, it has been retained in the Crown Dependency of Jersey.Northern Ireland
The common law offence of larceny was abolished on 1 August 1969, for all purposes not relating to offences committed before that date. It has been replaced by the broader offence of theft under section 1 of the Theft Act 1969.United States of America
Larceny laws in the United States of America have their roots in common law, pursuant to which larceny involves the trespassory taking and carrying away of the tangible personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of its possession. Larceny is now codified as a statutory crime in all U.S. jurisdictions.Under many states' larceny statutes, including California, larceny can include the taking of "money, labor, or real or personal property."
Elements
Possession versus custody
Larceny is a crime against possession. Furthermore, it has two elements which must be met: the actual taking of the property, even if momentarily, and the culpable intent to deprive another of their property. Larceny involves the trespassory taking of property from possession of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of that property. To understand larceny, one must understand the distinction between custody and possession.- A person has possession of property when he has actual physical control over the property or he has the right to exercise considerable control over the disposition or use of the property.
- A person has custody if he has actual physical control of the property, but the person who has constructive possession has substantially restricted the custodian's right to use the property.
Ancient Roman law was more lax about "simple possession"; it was assumed "borrowing" if there was no one to ask: unless or until other factors arose.
Take
The taking or caption element requires that the offender take actual physical control of the property, if but for a moment. Under thecommon law, it was not sufficient if the offender simply deprived the victim of possession; the offender must have gained control over the property. Thus merely knocking an article from a person's hand was not larceny, as long as the defendant did not thereafter take it. The control must be complete. In a famous case, the defendant removed an overcoat from a department store mannequin and began to walk away with it. The overcoat was secured to the mannequin by a chain, a fact the defendant first discovered when the chain drew taut. These actions were held not to be larceny because the defendant never had complete control over the disposition and use of the coat.
The taking may be only momentary. In another famous case, the defendant snatched an earring from the victim which immediately became entangled in the victim's hair. The court held that the defendant's control over the property, although momentary, was sufficient to constitute a taking. The taking may be either direct or indirect; that is, accomplished by the criminal himself or an innocent agent.
The equivalent term "deprive" is also sometimes used:
Carry away
Traditionally, a thief must not only gain dominion over the property, but also must move it from its original position. The slightest movement, a hair's breadth, is sufficient. However, the entirety of the property must be moved. As Professor Wayne LaFave noted, at its most literal this requirement renders the rotating of a doughnut a larceny, but not the rotating of a pie, as all of the doughnut is moved through rotation while the pie's exact center remains in the same place when rotated. The movement must also be an actual asportation, rather than movement in preparation. For example, in one case the victim had left his wheelbarrow in his yard. As was his custom he turned the wheelbarrow upside down to avoid water collecting in the tub. The defendant intending to steal the wheelbarrow turned it over but was apprehended by the owner before he could push the wheelbarrow away. The court held that the defendant's acts did not satisfy the asportation element of larceny because the movement of the wheelbarrow had merely been preparatory to the carrying away.Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary that the property be removed from the owner's premises or be taken off his property for an asportation to be complete. The slightest movement from its original position with the intent to steal is enough. The problem is proof. If a person picks up a package of steaks intending to steal them then changes her or his mind and puts the steak back in the meat counter, the crime of larceny has been committed but the state will have a difficult time proving it. However, if the thief conceals the steaks by sticking them inside clothing, his or her intent is rather clear. Of course, there could still be an innocent if bizarre explanation.
That said, the asportation requirement is not universally required. In People v. Alamo, for example, the New York Court of Appeals eliminated the asportation requirement. In that case the defendant entered a stranger's car and turned on the car's lights and engine. The Court read asportation as merely a corroborative element of possession and control, and thus not necessary to establish possession and control of a car because transportation is the purpose of a car. Turning it on suffices to establish that the thief has taken possession and control.
Additionally, the Model Penal Code eliminates the asportation requirement and instead requires that the defendant "exercise unlawful control". The drafters noted that historically the asportation requirement distinguished larceny and attempted larceny. They reasoned, therefore, that asportation was an irrelevant requirement because in modern criminal law, like the Model Penal Code, the sentencing consequences between an attempted and completed crime are negligible.
Personal property
From its creation the subject matter of larceny has been tangible personal property, with a physical existence: items that can be seen, held, and felt.This limitation means that acts of common law larceny cannot be committed against land or items attached to or forming part of land, such as buildings, trees or shrubbery, crops growing in the field, or minerals. Acts of common law larceny cannot be committed against intangible things, such as love or affection, identity, or intellectual property, such as information and ideas. For example, if a person stole the Coca-Cola formula, the crime would be larceny, but the grade of the offense would be determined by the value of the paper on which the formula was recorded, not the value of the recipe.
Services and labor, as well as intangible personal property such as contract rights and choses in action; wills, codicils, or other testamentary documents; wild animals; and items having no economic value cannot be the subjects of acts of common-law larceny.
Most states have enacted statutes to expand the coverage of larceny to include most if not all of the items mentioned above. For example, North Carolina has statutes that make it a crime to steal choses in action, growing crops and so on.
The restriction of the scope of larceny to personal property may have practical consequences. For example, a person may "steal" a central air conditioning unit by cutting the connections to the house, removing the unit from its concrete pad and hauling the disconnected unit away in a truck. In most jurisdictions, a central air conditioning unit changes from personal property to real property once it is attached to a building. Modernly, severance of a fixture from the realty would convert the fixture from real property back to personal property. However, the common law stated that if the severance and carrying away of a fixture were one continuous act, no larceny would occur. The defendant's actions in this example would thus merely constitute damage to real property, and would further not result in possession of stolen property since no larceny had taken place. However, if the person disconnected the air conditioner, left the premises to find someone to help him move the unit, returned and loaded the unit on his truck and left, the crime would be larceny.