People v. River

566 N.E.2d 220 (1990)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Officer Victor Rivera (no relation to the defendant) was on patrol. The Officer saw a blue Oldsmobile without lights being driven through the car lot. The car was eventually driven into a cable that extended between two poles at the entrance to the lot. The cable did not break and was caught between the grill and the bumper, such that the car could not be moved. When asked what he was doing, D replied that he had permission of the owner to move the car. The owner was not on the lot and the Officer arrested D. D was found guilty of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The appellate court reversed the conviction holding that P had not established that D had obtained exclusive possession of the car or that he took or carried away the car. The security cable did not break, and D did not remove the car from the owner's lot. Therefore the owner did not relinquish control or possession of the car. P appealed. P contends there is no requirement to drive the car off the owner's lot but that the car itself was merely moved without the owner's permission. D contends that a theft necessitates a 'taking,' which requires complete physical control by the offender so that there is a complete severance from the possession of the owner. P contends that the owner's possession was severed when D moved the car from where it had been parked.