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Property Crimes:
Theft or Larceny |
Larceny,
in criminal law, felonious taking of money or personal property
of another. Larceny is distinguished from robbery, in that the
latter involves the use of force or threats of injury against
the person from whom the money or property is taken. Examples of
larceny are the picking of another's pocket, the embezzlement of
funds by a bank employee, the conversion to one's own use of
personal property belonging to another, or obtaining property by
fraud or false pretenses.
In the old
common law, several elements had to be present to constitute
larceny: the property had to be actually taken and carried away
and had to be in the absolute possession of the thief; and the
taking and carrying had to be against the consent of the owner
or possessor, and accompanied by a simultaneous felonious intent
at the time the property was taken. Larceny in old common law
was classified as compound or simple. Simple larceny was called
grand larceny when the value of the stolen property was more
than 12 pence, and petit (petty) larceny when the value was
less. Compound larceny was the taking and carrying away of
property from the person or house of the owner.
In the U.S.
today, the various criminal codes of the states generally define
larceny and classify it as either grand larceny or petit
larceny. Under these codes, property is stolen and larceny
committed when, with definite intent to deprive oneself or
a third person, one wrongfully takes, obtains, or withholds such
property from an owner of it. In New York State, for example,
grand larceny is classified as a felony. It is characterized as
first-degree if the property is obtained by extortion or through
the abuse of a position as a public servant, and as second- or
third-degree larceny depending on the value of the property
stolen and the nature of the theft. Petit larceny, a
misdemeanor, refers to theft not covered in the first three
degrees.
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