ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Brief Fact Summary. The Appellant, Brown (Appellant), was charged with the crime of burglary after taking the bicycle of a young boy. This appeal to the Supreme Court of California involves a jury charge concerning the elements of larceny that must be proven in order for a conviction to occur.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. In order to find a defendant guilty of the crime of larceny, it must be proven that the intent of the defendant was to permanently deprive the owner of possession of the property that was taken. An intent merely to take the property temporarily will not be sufficient to support a conviction on a charge of larceny.
Issue. Can the trial court jury charge involving an instruction that larceny may be found even through a temporary taking stand?
Held. Since the Appellant only intended to remove the bicycle for a short period of time, rather than keeping it permanently, the conviction as to the larceny charge shall not stand because the jury instruction in the lower court was erroneous.
While the felonious intent of the party taking need not necessarily be an intention to convert the property to his own use, still it must in all cases be an intent to wholly and permanently deprive the owner thereof.
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