Also known as: trespassory taking · larceny · common-law larceny · trespassory larceny
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A common law theft offense consisting of the trespassory taking and carrying away of tangible personal property of another with the intent to deprive the owner permanently or for an unreasonable time. The taking must occur without valid consent from the person holding superior possessory rights and must involve the defendant gaining actual control over the property.
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Laura Lewis worked as a sales clerk at TrendLine. While off duty she took a designer jacket from a display rack and walked out of the store without paying. She thereby obtained control over store property without consent and with intent to keep it overnight, satisfying the trespassory taking element of larceny.
Luna Lang served as a graduate assistant with limited access to lab cameras. She packed several cameras into her car and drove them to her apartment intending to keep them indefinitely. The slight movement of the equipment from the cabinet into her vehicle completed the asportation required for the trespassory taking.
Latoya Lane worked as a forklift operator at Apex Freight. She diverted a pallet of tablets into a secluded corner and later loaded boxes into her car intending to keep them. Because she acquired the goods by trespassory taking rather than through prior lawful possession, the conduct constituted larceny rather than embezzlement.
Layla Lane volunteered at a warehouse storing donated electronics. She entered alone at night and loaded forty laptops into her car for resale. Her direct acquisition of control over the property without consent established the trespassory taking element of larceny.
Logan Lane worked as a nurse on an understaffed ward. While a patient slept she removed high-end hearing aids from the bedside table and placed them in her pocket intending to retain them. The unauthorized removal from the patient's immediate possession satisfied the trespassory taking requirement.
Levi Lowe worked as a clerk in the city parking department. When his supervisor stepped away he slid a stack of prepaid stickers from the counter into his open briefcase intending to steal them. By placing the stickers inside his own container he obtained the control necessary for a trespassory taking.
Larceny requires the defendant to acquire control through a trespassory taking from someone with a superior possessory interest at the moment of acquisition. Embezzlement instead requires that the defendant already hold lawful possession and then convert the property while in that possession.
Supporting sources
Any movement of the property however slight satisfies asportation when performed as part of carrying the item away. Placing items into a personal container or pushing a pallet onto a dock plate constitutes obtaining control and therefore completes the taking element.
…which charged appellant with delinquency alleged that his act, "if done by an adult, would constitute the crime or crimes of Larceny." The judge acknowledged that the proof might not establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but rejected appellant's contention that such proof was required by the Fourteenth Amendment.…
…from constable to constable with thirty-one lashes by each." Anyone committing a criminal offense "under the degree of Grand Larceny" and unable to furnish bail within 48 hours could be summarily tried by three justices. With local variations, examples could be multiplied. The point is not that many offenses that…
…of a prior conviction—the core crime and the aggravating fact together constitute an aggravated crime, just as much as grand larceny is an aggravated form of petit
…of third-degree burglary. In 1972 he was convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses. In 1973 he was convicted of grand larceny. And in 1975 he was convicted of third-offense driving while intoxicated. The record contains no details about the circumstances of any of these offenses, except that they were all…
…Jr., and James Arnold Madden were convicted respectively of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary in a dwelling, and grand larceny
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The defendant must intend at the moment of taking to deprive the owner permanently or for so long that the deprivation is unreasonable. A claim of temporary borrowing is insufficient when the circumstances show the taking created a substantial risk of permanent loss.
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Yes. Low-level employees typically hold only custody rather than possession of employer goods. When such an employee removes property without authorization the acquisition is trespassory and constitutes larceny rather than embezzlement.
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No. The intent element is judged at the time of the taking. A subsequent change of mind does not erase the intent to deprive permanently or unreasonably that existed when control was first obtained without consent.
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