Theft laws require certain elements for a crime to be considered larceny. Theft laws dictate that a crime must involve an element in which a person moves some form of valuable personal property. That personal property must include possession rights of another person. In addition, theft laws say that a person guilty of larceny intends to permanently deprive the person that has possession rights of that property from continuing to use those possession rights. However, the types of larceny are not as easily described by any single theft law.
The manner in which the commission of a larceny takes place will depend greatly on many intervening factors. First, the type of property plays a role in the manner in which it will be stolen. Some property is easily hidden or easily moved, while other property is not easily hidden or moved. In addition, the relationship between the person that is committing the larceny and the victim can play a part in the manner in which the crime is committed.
In some cases, there is no previous relationship between the perpetrator and victim, such as a pickpocket. In addition, opportunity in combination with intent will affect the outcome on the manner in which a crime is committed. For example, a person may have intent to steal some item, but must wait until an opportunity presents itself.
Theft laws dictate the type of charge associated with the manner in which a crime is committed. For example, grand larceny is subject to harsher penalties than petty larceny in most jurisdictions’ theft laws. Theft law will also dictate penalties based on the type of larceny. For example, a person that is in a position of trust may be subject to harsher penalties than a criminal that did not know their intended target.
Employees have a personal relationship with their employer, and therefore, they have breached a trust which many judges take into account during sentencing. Larceny by trick may also receive a harsh penalty if there was a close relationship between the victim and suspect. While any of these factors can play a role in larceny, there are also likely to be many other unique factors present during the commission of the crime.
Theft law does not always break down a crime by type. For example, an employee committing larceny can be of equal guilt as a suspect accused of being a pickpocket. In other words, the law could find them both guilty under the same theft law. However, the judge make take the factors involved during the commission of their crime into account when deciding on a sentence.
By Stealth
Larceny by stealth usually involves crimes in which the victim is not immediately aware that a theft has even taken place. For example, a pickpocket may make off with a victim’s wallet long before the victim even realizes it is gone. In crimes of this nature, suspects are often difficult to track because there are usually no witnesses to the crime.
In fact, the crime could have been witnessed by many people, but the people simply do not realize that a a crime took place. Crimes of this nature are committed with such efficiency that it is often difficult to catch the guilty parties. In fact, they generally commit numerous crimes before they are caught.
By a Bailee
A baliee is a person that is paid in order to take temporary possession of property to transfer that property to its rightful owner. A bailee never has ownership rights to a property. They merely have temporary possession rights. Those rights are granted so that the bailee can transfer the property or temporally possess the property in order to complete a job.
For example, an individual may have been hired by a landscaper in order to mow a lawn. In order to mow the lawn, the landscaper allowed the employee to take temporary possession of the lawn mower and other lawn equipment. Therefore, the bailee is allowed temporary possession of that property in order to complete a job.
If, however, that individual took that equipment to another location in order to make extra money utilizing that equipment, they could face charges of larceny. In other words, they only had possession of that property to complete a specific task. If they used that equipment for another task, or did not return it, they are guilty of theft.
