Also known as: dominion and control · dominion · control · possession · custody
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal power or authority to direct the use, disposition, or management of property or the conduct of another. This power supports findings of constructive possession when a person has the right or ability to exercise it over an object, even without physical custody.
Demetrius Douglas directed an innocent agent to retrieve a lost wallet from a park bench and bring it to him. Once the agent handed over the wallet, Douglas exercised dominion or control sufficient to complete the taking element of larceny. The court held that the transfer through the agent satisfied the requirement that the defendant actually obtain control over the property.
Darius Dixon executed a mortgage on his commercial building to secure a loan from Dakota Industries. Under the deed of trust, Dixon retained possession and the right to redeem while the lender held legal title only as security. The arrangement allowed Dixon to continue exercising dominion or control over the property until default triggered foreclosure.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Diana Delgado sued Dynamic Solutions after a machine malfunction injured her. The company later added a safety guard to the machine. The court admitted evidence of the guard solely to prove that Dynamic Solutions had ownership and control of the machine at the time of the accident, not to show negligence.
Judge Deborah Dunn instructed her courtroom deputy to limit questioning of a witness based on the deputy's private conversations with one party. The conduct violated the rule because the judge permitted court staff subject to her direction and control to engage in actions manifesting bias.
Attorney Derek Douglas received settlement funds belonging to a client. He deposited the money into his personal operating account rather than a separate client trust account. The commingling violated the requirement that a lawyer hold property of clients in the lawyer's possession separate from the lawyer's own property.
Danielle Dixon remained in possession of an apartment after her lease expired. She continued to occupy the premises without asserting any claim of superior title. The law recognized her interest as an estate at sufferance because she wrongfully continued in possession after termination of her prior possessory interest.
Dominion or control supports constructive possession even without physical custody when a person has the right or authority to exercise power over the object. Courts examine whether the defendant could have taken actual possession and intended to do so. This standard allows liability when contraband is in a place specially accessible to the defendant.
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No. Destroying property or merely moving it does not satisfy the taking requirement unless the defendant thereby gains control over the property. The defendant must actually obtain control, not simply displace the item.
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Evidence of subsequent measures is admissible when offered to prove ownership, control, or the feasibility of precautionary measures if those issues are disputed. The rule bars the evidence only when offered to prove negligence or culpable conduct.
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…Dictionary 478-479, 547 (24th ed. 1965). The situation therefore is inherently different from marital intimacy, or bedroom possession of obscene material, or marriage, or procreation, or education, with which Eisenstadt and Griswold, Stanley, Loving, Skinner , and Pierce and Meyer were respectively concerned. As we…