Receiver of stolen goods

“ Those that are found guilty of theft among them are bound to make restitution to the owner, and not, as it is in other places, to the prince, for they reckon that the prince has no more right to the stolen goods than the thief; but if that which was stolen is no more in being, then the goods of the thieves are estimated, and restitution being made out of them, the remainder is given to their wives and children; and they themselves are condemned to serve in the public works, but are neither imprisoned nor chained, unless there happens to be some extraordinary circumstance in their crimes. ”

“ Dealing with stolen goods by persons other than the thief may affect the rights of such persons either criminally or civilly. Two varieties of crime arise from such dealings. (1) Receiving stolen goods knowing them to have been stolen, a misdemeanour at common law, is by the Larceny Act a felony punishable by penal servitude for fourteen years where the theft amounts to felony, a misdemeanour punishable by penal servitude for seven years where the theft is a misdemeanour, as in obtaining goods by false pretences. ”

“ When a theft has been committed, a royal herald is sent through the town, who at once announces the fact, and declares the king’s intention to punish the offender; the threat, more often than not, has the effect of inducing the culprit to lay the stolen goods under cover of night in some public place, whence they may be restored to their owner. ”

“ A thief will not steal unless he knows that he can make some profitable disposition of his haul. It is comparatively easy to dispose of jewelry, but a thief must know positively where he can immediately dispose of bulky property that he cannot readily conceal. Usually such stuff is immediately sold to unscrupulous dealers who carry goods of the same kind in stock; for instance, a quantity of stolen cloth may be sold to a dishonest dry-goods merchant. In some cases, however, a store or flat is rented in advance of a burglary or theft and the loot stored in it. ”

“ The thief, besides returning the stolen article or replacing it, pays, as a fine, an amount equal to the value of the goods stolen, and the robbed person will retain a part of the fine and give the rest to those who helped him to enforce the verdict. ”

“ Where the Thief can be taken, you are not at Liberty to prosecute for the Misdemeanour.
2. The Thief himself, who must be convicted before the Accessary is to be tried, cannot be a Witness.
3. Without such Evidence it is very difficult to convict of the Knowledge, that the Goods were stolen; which, in this Case, can appear from Circumstances only. Such are principally, 1. Buying Goods of Value, of Persons very unlikely to be the lawful Proprietors. ”

“ The most important Act relating to procedure is 31 and 32 Viet c. 95, 12, by which a previous conviction for theft may be libelled and proved as aggravation of robbery, and a previous conviction for robbery as aggravation of theft. Stolen goods are always taken subject to the inherent vitium reale of their acquisition, and the true owner may recover them from any one in whose possession they are. The protection given by market overt is unknown in Scotland. ”

“ But no goods shall be regarded as having continued to be stolen goods after they have been restored to the person from whom they were stolen or to other lawful possession or custody, or after that person and any other person claiming through him have otherwise ceased as regards those goods to have any right to restitution in respect of the theft. ”

“ The purchase of stolen goods is a trade so lucrative, and offers so direct an incentive to crime in others, that, when it is fully brought home, the offender cannot, in the public interest, be too severely dealt with.
If there were no receivers there would be hardly any professional thieves. Their detection, as we have said, is difficult, for the simple reason that a detected and convicted thief knows, as a rule, that he has very little, if anything, to gain by putting such information as he can give at the disposal of the police. ”

“ If the stolen goods be found in the possession of a person who is not able to account satisfactorily how he came by them he shall be deemed the guilty person. If a person attempting to seize a man in the act of thieving shall get hold of any part of his clothes which are known, or his kris or siwah, this shall be deemed a sufficient token of the theft. ”

“ As regards theft, the king’s rights overrode those of the owner of the stolen property, until, in the reign of Henry VIII., provision was made for restitution of the goods to the owner if he prosecuted the thief to conviction. ”

“ A careful thief destroys, as soon as possible, all marks of identification, but if he has not done so, the receiver takes that precaution as soon as the stolen property comes into his possession. Merchandise handled under unusual conditions should immediately suggest ‘receivers’ to you. ”

“ All thefts under five dollars, and all disputes for property, or offences to that amount, may be compromised by the proattins whose dependants are concerned.
Neither assertion nor oath of the prosecutor are sufficient for conviction without token (chino) of the robbery, namely, some article recovered of the goods stolen; or evidence sufficient.
If any person, having permission to pass the night in the house of another, shall leave it before daybreak, without giving notice to the family, he shall be held accountable for any thing that may be that night missing. ”

“ If it is made to appear by information on oath before a justice of the peace that there is reasonable cause to believe that any person has in his custody or possession or on his premises any stolen goods, the justice may grant a warrant to search for and seize the same; but no warrant to search for stolen goods shall be addressed to a person other than a constable except under the authority of an enactment expressly so providing. ”

“ It is true that amended § 3 forbids the interstate transportation of forged and counterfeited securities, and forging and counterfeiting tools, 'With unlawful or fraudulent intent,' while the earlier proscribed transportation of stolen goods, securities and money is not required in terms to be done with such an intent, but only with knowledge that they have been stolen. ”

“ A person handles stolen goods if (otherwise than in the course of the stealing) knowing or believing them to be stolen goods he dishonestly receives the goods, or dishonestly undertakes or assists in their retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person, or if he arranges to do so.
(2) A person guilty of handling stolen goods shall on conviction on indictment be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. ”

“ The owner of the goods stolen has an action against the thief for the goods or their value. How far he is entitled to pursue his civil right to the exclusion of criminal prosecution does not seem very clear upon the authorities. ”

“ Yet for the prevention of theft, and multiplication of remedies against the thief, it has been provided that, besides the penalty of twice or four times the value of the property stolen, the property itself, or its value, may be recovered from the thief by a personal action in the form 'if it be proved that the defendant ought to convey,' as an alternative for the real action which is also available to the plaintiff, and in which he asserts his ownership of the stolen property. ”

“ The police—​often conveniently blind—​are nothing if not arithmetical. Armed with a note-book and a pencil, they penetrate into the most secret recesses of a guilty commerce, and, having tabulated the number of “fences” in England and Wales, complacently suffer wrong-doing to take its course.
Either the crime of receiving stolen goods is on the increase, or the receivers are growing less fortunate; since the number of commitments for this specific offence was, according to the latest returns, four hundred and eighty in 1878, against four hundred and fifteen in 1877. ”

“ Where goods have been stolen and the offender is prosecuted to conviction, the property in the goods so stolen revests in the person who was the owner of the goods, or his personal representative, notwithstanding any intermediate dealing with them, whether by sale in market overt or otherwise. ”

“ On the trial of two or more persons indicted for jointly handling any stolen goods the jury may find any of the accused guilty if the jury are satisfied that he handled all or any of the stolen goods, whether or not he did so jointly with the other accused or any of them. ”

“ They hover about all day long in the market, watching their opportunities to steal both from purchasers and vendors. Stolen goods are sold to a particular set of men who are in league with the thieves, and the money obtained is quickly squandered. The art of pocket-picking has become quite a science, and so skilful are they that detection is almost impossible. The stolen goods are passed on so readily from hand to hand that even if the original thief is caught the person robbed will probably never secure what he has lost. ”

“ A great robbery might be effected by two persons, and the goods which would be so stolen are of all property the most portable. Thieves with a capital,—and thieves in these days do have capital,—might afford to wait, and diamonds in the rough can not be traced. I should have thought that property of such immense value would have paid for an armed escort. The gold in Australia, which is much less portable, is always accompanied by an escort. ”

“ With regard to stealing from others, the custom is that if any person has stolen anything, and kept it concealed for three days, it then becomes his own property, and the only way for the injured party to obtain satisfaction is to rob the thief in return. ”

“ Of course buying goods well knowing them to be stolen is a crime in every civilized community, but in this particular instance, without the special enactments of the Cape Colony and Free State, one almost impossible to bring home to the criminal. ”

“ It has always appeared to us a strange anomaly in the distribution of the laws of this country, why the purchaser or receiver of a dead body, which, from its very nature and character, must be stolen property, should not be subject to the same punishment as the individual who purchases a stolen handkerchief or a watch. ”

“ He soon sought a livelihood by blackmailing thieves and trafficking in stolen property. He built up a connection among the thieves, offering to sell any goods brought to him, and to hand over the proceeds less a commission. The scheme prospered, and it being found that owners of stolen property outbid ordinary dealers, Wild encouraged his thieves to steal from persons whom they were able to identify in order that he might open up communications with them for the return of their goods. ”

“ A person taking money or reward for helping any other person to stolen goods or chattels is guilty of felony unless he brings the thief to trial.
As of 1717, any person convicted of grand or petit larceny or any felonious stealing or taking of money, goods, or chattels, either from the person or from the house of any person who is entitled to benefit of clergy and who is liable only to whipping or burning in the hand may instead be transported to the American colonies to the use of any person who will pay for his transportation for seven years. ”

“ Theft of property of the value of one kusta and over is great theft (grand larceny) and shall be punished by fine as provided in section one: Provided further, That the articles of property stolen shall be restored to the owner or owners thereof, and the thief shall suffer one hundred lashes.
The fine shall be divided between the person robbed and the governor (the chief usually acts as judge) , in the following manner: When no trial shall have been held, the robbed party shall receive seven parts and the governor three parts ”

“ But not the slightest clue to the perpetrators of the theft could be discovered.
“‘If it had been my own property that had been stolen I would not have minded so much,’ said Mr Flowers. ‘But trust deeds! it is too dreadful.’
“Various theories were promulgated as to the nature and motives of the thief, the most feasible one being that someone, hearing that a relative had made a will, had conceived that it was inimical to his interests, and had resolved to steal it from the solicitor with whom he believed it to have been deposited. ”

“ It seems to us Englishmen that it would not be just to ordain two punishments for theft. The robber becomes the owner of what he has stolen; true, he got it by violence, but it is none the less his, for he can do what he likes with it. ”

“ A typical example of common-law larceny is the taking of an unattended automobile. But an automobile is no less 'stolen' because it is rented, transported interstate, and sold without the permission of the owner (embezzlement) . [16] The same is true where an automobile is purchased with a worthless check, transported interstate, and sold (false pretenses) . [17] Professional thieves resort to innumerable forms of theft and Congress presumably sought to meet the need for federal action effectively rather than to leave loopholes for wholesale evasion. ”

“ The thief, the seller, the interpreter, are all active in his service, because they are all paid by him. In some cases the purchaser unites himself with the seller, on purpose to deceive the interpreter; whilst, in other cases, the interpreter agrees with the thief and pretended seller, to put the stolen person into the hands of the purchaser! What precautions, what scrutiny, can then avail, when we reflect, that the profound secrecy of the prisons, and the strict precautions in carrying the slaves on board, are equalled only by the licentiousness with which the transports are fabricated? ”

“ There is a certain glamour about buying stolen goods aside from their cheapness. Realizing this, “hot men” and their agents maintain that their goods are stolen whether they are or not. People like to feel that they are breaking the law and when they are getting [Pg 50] undeniable bargains at the same time, the temptation becomes twofold. Of course, one never really knows whether what they are buying has been stolen from a neighbor next door or bought from a defunct merchant. ”