Stolen property

“ You may talk of legal limitations as much as you like, but conscience will revolt against a doctrine that makes stolen property sacred after a certain period of impunity, and leads to the cynical conclusion that any article or piece of land, acquired by crime, is the legitimate possession of the bandit if during 5, 10, 20, 30 years he succeeds in warding off the attacks of the law.”22 Not only has property often been acquired in an illegal manner, but the transmission of it is also immoral. ”

“ Now, if a person received property under such circumstances that would satisfy a man of ordinary intelligence that it was stolen property, and you further find beyond a reasonable doubt that he actually did believe it was stolen property, then you have a right to infer and find that, at the time of the receipt of the property, the person knew that it was stolen. Now, the next point in the case is in regard to the intent the defendant had in regard to the use or disposal of the property. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To hold that when the government finds its own property in hands but one remove from these willful trespassers, and asserts its right to such property by the slow processes of the law, the holder can set up a claim for the value which has been added to the property by the guilty party in the act of cutting down the trees and removing the timber, is to given encouragement and reward to the wrong-doer, by providing a safe market for what he has stolen and compensation for the labor he has been compelled to do to make his theft effectual and profitable. ”

“ It is possible, and very probable, that the purchaser of the latter articles [Pg 4] does not know that it is stolen property; but if a resurrectionist presents himself at the door of the King's College, or any of the private dissecting rooms, bearing on his head a hamper containing the corpse of a human being, the purchaser then knows that the subject must be either murdered or stolen. If, then, according to the spirit of the laws of England, the receiver is equally guilty with the thief, where is the law that exempts the receiver of a stolen body from the full penalty of its infliction? ”

“ In cases like these, it may be remarked that Devonshire superstition points more to the punishment of the thief than to the recovery of the stolen property. If a robbery has been committed, it enjoins you to pluck six blades of grass from the spot, and take them to a white witch; as many scratches as she makes with a pin in the grass blades, so many rents will there be in the face of the thief. ”

“ For since all expect gain from the detention [of the thing stolen] it is not strange if all sustain loss in its restitution.
The paterfamilias in whose house the stolen property is found is evidently himself a member of a [288] wider family group with common interests and liabilities. And the clause goes on to say that the accused must deny the charge with twelve co-swearers if the thing stolen be worth half a mark, or submit to the test of the ordeal of hot iron. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Each victimized nation should appoint commissions to investigate and gather evidence concerning the stolen property. The secretion or destruction of such property or the refusal to reveal its whereabouts, should be deemed a crime and should be severely punished. The property courts should have criminal jurisdiction for this purpose. ”

“ Often when there is a case of theft in the town one of the “wise women” is summoned to help discover the thief and the whereabouts of the stolen property. She occasionally finds the property, but very rarely exposes the culprit. One day a rich merchant came to my office in a great fuss and complained that a quantity of silver ornaments belonging to his wife had disappeared from his house. ”

“ But no such procedure need be followed today; the Government may demonstrate probable cause and lawfully search for stolen property even though the true owner is unknown or unavailable to request and authorize the Government to assert his interest. As to instrumentalities, the Court in Gouled allowed their seizure, not because the Government had some property interest in them (under the ancient, fictitious forfeiture theory) , but because they could be used to perpetrate further crime. ”

“ A person commits larceny under New York law if he 'unlawfully obtains or appropriates' an article, N.Y.Penal Law, § 1294; he violates the receiving of stolen property statute if he 'in any way * * * conceals, withholds, or aids in concealing or withholding * * * property, knowing the same to have bene stolen, or appropriated wrongfully in such a manner as to constitute larceny,' N.Y.Penal Law § 1308. ”

“ Every crime is an offence against the State. It is also in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred an offence against a fellow-creature, which fellow-creature is called a victim, and interests nobody. Sir Alfred Wills and Sir Robert Anderson both held that thieves, big thieves especially, should be compelled to say what disposition had been made of stolen property, and that they should be imprisoned for life if they refused. ”

“ These people often get drunk over night, and frequent houses of bad repute, where they are robbed. They naturally invoke the aid of the police in seeking to recover their property. Frequently, by making a plain statement of their cases, they recover their money or valuables, through the assistance of the Detectives. Sometimes the stolen property cannot be regained at all. These people, as a rule, refuse to prosecute the thieves, and declare their determination to submit to the loss rather than endure the publicity which would attend a prosecution. ”

“ If the police are unable to find out the wholesale dealers in stolen property, and trust to chance to make such a haul as they made the other day in the Commercial-road, might it not be expedient to allow the next professional burglar we catch to turn Queen’s evidence against the receivers?
“No terms can be made with a murderer, and Peace must be left to the gallows; but most useful revelations might be obtained from a professional housebreaker permitted to turn approver. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But in the case of stealing a man, the first act drew down the utmost power of punishment; however often repeated, or aggravated the crime, human penalty could do no more. The fact that the penalty for man-stealing was death, and the penalty for property-stealing, the mere restoration of double, shows that the two cases were adjudicated on totally different principles. The man stolen might be past labor, and his support a burden, yet death was the penalty, though not a cent's worth of property value was taken. The penalty for stealing property was a mere property penalty. ”

“ Our sources tell us that a person who searched for stolen property on the premises of another searched alone and naked, lest he be deemed later to have brought concealed in his clothing any article, which he might pretend then to have found in the house, save for a loincloth and a platter, on the latter of which he probably placed the stolen articles when found. ”

“ It provided that no officer of the law might enter a house to search for a thief or for stolen property without leave from the owner of the house. No freeman could be arrested or imprisoned except under a legal warrant. ”

“ Of all these petty thieves, the bargemen were the worst offenders, and the opportunities they met with, combined with the impunity they enjoyed, attracted many thieves to the calling; all over the country receivers of stolen property set up shop near the canals ”

“ No—no, not yet—the most important work is yet to be done. The evidence we now have would only convict Becker & Co. of receiving stolen property. How they were able to replace the Government, the railroad and the packer's seals on the car must be answered before we prove larceny. Young 220Strong's idea of getting into their plant is the best, and we are ready to try it. ”

“ This I had no objection to do, if only the writer would head his notes with the dicta, that the man who endeavours to screen a thief is as bad as the thief; and that if the property stolen has been entrusted to the safe keeping of the thief, and he, and those whose servant he is, are paid for protecting it, the theft is of an aggravated kind. ”

“ When a man was stolen why was not the thief required to restore double of the same kind—two men, or if he had sold him, five men? Do you say that the man-thief might not have them? So the ox-thief might not have two oxen, or if he had killed it, five. But if God permitted men to hold men as property, equally with oxen, the man-thief could get men with whom to pay the penalty, as well as the ox-thief, oxen. Further, when property was stolen, the legal penalty was a compensation to the person injured. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 one arrested on suspicion of theft do not clear himself, he is to be punished as a thief, being first compelled to make good the property stolen.
270. [The monarch] should compel the thief to make restitution of the stolen articles, and subject him to [such of] the different corporeal inflictions [as may be proper] : a bráhmaṇ [who is a thief] he shall brand and banish the realm. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Persons afflicted with General Paralysis frequently steal, in the belief that everything they see belongs to them, or because they are incapable of understanding the meaning of property. If accused of theft, they deny their guilt or assert that the stolen articles have been hidden on their persons by others. ”

“ And be it further enacted, That every person, upon a second conviction of larceny, where the property stolen is under the value of five dollars, or upon a second conviction of receiving stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, where the property stolen is under the value of five dollars, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour for a period not less than one year nor more than three years. ”

“ As I have stated elsewhere in this narrative, stealing property from some one to whom that property does not rightfully belong can hardly be accounted a crime; and when property thus purloined is restored to its rightful owner, the theft is transformed into a high and noble act. ”

“ If theft is discovered on anyone's land and the thief is discovered, the lord of the estate and the thief's wife shall have half of his property and the claimants shall have their goods, if they find them. And with regard to the other half, if the theft is discovered in a district over which the lord has rights of jurisdiction, the wife shall lose her share and it shall pass to the lord.
"Further, we forbid the buying or selling of any livestock except within towns and before three trustworthy witnesses, likewise that of any second-hand goods without a surety and warrantor." ”