—–Original Message—–
From: Jessica
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 8:24 PM
To: info@coptalk.info
Subject: Stolen property
If I were to buy a television from somebody and they had stolen it before selling it to me and I didn’t know that is was stolen, what would happen? Would I get in trouble? What if I gave up the person who sold it to me, would that get me out of trouble?
Our Reply:
It all depends. For instance, if you paid $100 for a 46" wide screen Plasma television and got caught with it then the law would tend to believe that you knew something wasn’t right, that you had to know that it was stolen. You just don’t get that kind of TV for that cheap of price unless it was stolen. On the other hand, if you bought the television for a fair price, something that wouldn’t raise suspicions, and you DIDNT know it was stolen and didn’t know the thief, you might not get in trouble. You’d still be in possession of stolen property and you’d lose the TV and the money you paid for it but you probably wouldn’t be arrested unless the police believed you knew the property was stolen. But your name still goes in a police report as having been found with stolen property. In some jurisdictions you just might be arrested anyway and have a judge decide whether you are guilty of possession of stolen property which is usually a felony charge.
Some detectives like to go after bigger fish and giving up the thief’s name might help you if you get caught in that situation but it just might mean a lesser charge, not a "get out of jail free" card. If you already bought the television and are now worried after finding out it’s stolen, I’d turn it in to the police and explain what happened. That way you stand less of a chance of getting into trouble unless you assisted in stealing it.
If you have any doubts follow the golden rule, "if it seems too good to be true, then it usually isn’t true"……
