Also known as: asportation · asportations · carrying away
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Movement of all or part of tangible personal property, however slight, performed as part of the carrying away process in common law larceny.
Forcible movement of a person from one country to another as part of the carrying away element in common law kidnapping.
Movement of all or part of tangible personal property, however slight, performed as part of the carrying away process in common law larceny.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Forcible movement of a person from one country to another as part of the carrying away element in common law kidnapping.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Maya, an off-duty sales clerk at TrendLine, lifted a designer jacket from a display rack and walked out of the store wearing it. She carried the jacket several blocks to her apartment before security confronted her the next day. The movement satisfied the carrying away requirement even though the distance remained short.
Liam diverted a pallet of tablets into a secluded warehouse corner and then loaded several boxes into his car. He drove the boxes several miles to his home before authorities recovered them. The relocation and transport met the carrying away element.
Frankie placed five marked power tools into his backpack and walked thirty feet across the gravel lot toward his truck. A supervisor stopped him before he reached the gate. The short distance traveled still completed the carrying away step.
Leo packed several cameras from a university storage cabinet into his car and drove them to his off-campus apartment. He kept the equipment there for personal use over multiple weeks. The physical removal and transport fulfilled the carrying away requirement.
Malik scanned a pallet of tablets as loaded and pushed it from storage onto the dock plate at his bay. A supervisor intervened before he could drive away. The repositioning of the pallet constituted sufficient carrying away.
Any movement of the property, however slight, meets the requirement when performed as part of carrying the item away from the victim's possession. Courts do not measure distance or require the property to leave the premises entirely.
Supporting sources
Taking requires obtaining control over the property. Asportation requires subsequent movement of that property as part of removal from the owner's possession. Slight movement after control is achieved satisfies asportation even if the overall theft is interrupted.
Supporting sources
Rita directed Silas into a locked vehicle that crossed from State A into State B and then drove him a substantial distance to a remote camp. Guards held him for three days before release. The forced transport across the border satisfied the carrying away element of kidnapping.
The carrying away concept appears in both offenses. In larceny it requires movement of property. In common law kidnapping it requires forcible abduction and transport of a person across a national border.
Supporting sources
…A. 5th Cir.), to which the dissent below referred at some length. The appellant there was convicted of feloniously taking and carrying away certain personal property of the United States in violation of § 46 of the Criminal Code, 18 U. S. C. (1940 ed.) § 99, and had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He argued that…