Possession Question

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  • shellslinger

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    Feb 4, 2017
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    From the Texas Penal Code

    Sec. 31.03. THEFT. (a) A person commits an offense if he unlawfully appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.

    (b) Appropriation of property is unlawful if:

    (1) it is without the owner's effective consent;

    (2) the property is stolen and the actor appropriates the property knowing it was stolen by another;
    or

    (3) property in the custody of any law enforcement agency was explicitly represented by any law enforcement agent to the actor as being stolen and the actor appropriates the property believing it was stolen by another.

    ----------------
    I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

    In short, you must have the criminal culpability mind state of knowing that it was stolen in order to be considered to be theft. I know this won't answer your question but may help guide you in your friend's decision.
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    benenglish

    Just Another Boomer
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    Nov 22, 2011
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    If you find a piece of lost police property, does the "finders keepers, losers weepers" law still apply?
    Not in my case.

    I found the sidearm and commission of the local Chief, State Department Office of Diplomatic Security right where he had left them in a cafeteria. It was a violation of the law for me to pick them up and take them to the Federal Protective Service guard station but I did it, anyway.

    It was a rock and a hard place for me. If I had tried to ignore the situation and just walked away AND been seen doing so, I would have lost my career. If the FPS had wanted to be dicks about it, they could have prosecuted me for being unlawfully in possession of a firearm inside a federal building. Technically, I suppose I should have just kept an eye on them and screamed for help till a uniformed officer showed up but I decided to bet on the discretion of the FPS officers. It worked out.

    I retired without ever collecting on the favor that guy owed me, though. ;)
     
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