LARCENY

larceny (lahr-s<<schwa>>-nee), n. The unlawful taking and carrying away of someone else’s personal property with the intent to deprive the possessor of it permanently. • Common-law larceny has been broadened by some statutes to include embezzlement and false pretenses, all three of which are often subsumed under the statutory crime of “theft.” [Cases: Larceny  1.C.J.S. Larceny §§ 1(1, 2), 9.]

“The criminal offence of larceny or theft in the Common Law was intimately connected with the civil wrong of trespass. ‘Where there has been no trespass,’ said Lord Coleridge, ‘there can at law common be no larceny.’ Larceny, in other words, is merely a particular kind of trespass to goods which, by virtue of the trespasser’s intent, is converted into a crime. Trespass is a wrong, not to ownership but to possession, and theft, therefore, is not the violation of a person’s right to ownership, but the infringement of his possession, accompanied with a particular criminal intent.” 4 Stephen’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 72–73 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).

“[T]he distinctions between larceny, embezzlement and false pretenses serve no useful purpose in the criminal law but are useless handicaps from the standpoint of the administration of criminal justice. One solution has been to combine all three in one section of the code under the name of ‘larceny.’ This has one disadvantage, however, because it frequently becomes necessary to add a modifier to make clear whether the reference is to common-law larceny or to statutory larceny.” Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 389 (3d ed. 1982).

aggravated larceny.Larceny accompanied by some aggravating factor (as when the theft is from a person). — Also termed compound larceny. [Cases: Larceny  23. C.J.S. Larceny §§ 60(1,

2, 3), 61–65.] complicated larceny.See mixed larceny. compound larceny.1. See aggravated larceny. 2. See mixed larceny.

constructive larceny.Larceny in which the perpetrator’s felonious intent to appropriate the goods is construed from the defendant’s conduct at the time of asportation, although a felonious intent was not present before that time.

grand larceny.Larceny of property worth more than a statutory cutoff amount, usu. $100. Cf. petit larceny. [Cases: Larceny  23. C.J.S. Larceny §§ 60(1, 2, 3), 61–65.]

“The English law, as the result of an early statute [the Statute of Westminster I, ch. 15 (1275)], classified this offense [larceny] as either (1) grand larceny or (2) petit larceny (now frequently written petty larceny), the former being a capital offense and the latter punishable by forfeiture of goods and whipping, but not death. Both, as mentioned earlier, were felonies. The offense was grand larceny if the value of the property stolen exceeded twelve pence and petit larceny if it did not. Modern statutes very generally retain this same classification (sometimes without using these labels) but with different penalties and different values set as the dividing line.” Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 335 (3d ed. 1982).

larceny by a constructive trespass.Larceny that occurs when a property owner mistakenly gives another person more property than is due, and the recipient knows about the error but does not disclose it before taking the excess property with the intent of converting it to his or her own use.

larceny by bailee.Larceny committed by a bailee who converts the property to personal use or to the use of a third party. [Cases: Embezzlement  16; Larceny  15. C.J.S. Embezzlement § 20;

Larceny §§ 30–32, 45–48.] larceny by extortion.See theft by extortion under THEFT. larceny by fraud and deception.See larceny by trick.

larceny by trick.Larceny in which the taker misleads the rightful possessor, by misrepresentation of fact, into giving up possession of (but not title to) the goods. — Also termed larceny by trick and deception; larceny by trick and device; larceny by fraud and deception. Cf. FALSE PRETENSES; cheating by false pretenses under CHEATING. [Cases: Larceny  14. C.J.S. Larceny §§ 7, 36, 50.]

larceny from the person.Larceny in which the goods are taken directly from the person, but without violence or intimidation, the victim usu. being unaware of the taking. • Pickpocketing is a typical example. This offense is similar to robbery except that violence or intimidation is not involved. Cf. ROBBERY. [Cases: Larceny  19. C.J.S. Larceny §§ 8, 10–11.]

larceny of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake.See theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake under THEFT.

mixed larceny. 1. Larceny accompanied by aggravation or violence to the person. Cf. simple larceny. 2. Larceny involving a taking from a house. — Also termed compound larceny; complicated larceny.

petit larceny.Larceny of property worth less than an amount fixed by statute, usu. $100. — Also spelled petty larceny. Cf. grand larceny. [Cases: Larceny  23. C.J.S. Larceny §§ 60(1, 2, 3), 61–65.]

simple larceny.Larceny unaccompanied by aggravating factors; larceny of personal goods

unattended by an act of violence. Cf. mixed larceny (1).

[Blacks Law 8th]