Opinion ID: 1521174
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Limited Dominion or Control

Text: Appellants argue that because they made no personal use of the property and had no authority to return it after it was seized, they should not have been held liable for conversion of the items. [7] [T]he gist of a claim of unlawful seizure or impoundment is conversion or trespass to chattels, which relates the inquiry to the moment of the taking .... `The conversion is complete when the defendant takes, detains or disposes of the chattel.' DeKine v. District of Columbia, D.C.App., 422 A.2d 981, 986 (1980) (quoting W. Prosser, supra § 15, at 97) (emphasis added). Prosser states, Perhaps the most common way in which conversion is committed is by an unauthorized transfer or disposal of the goods to one who is not entitled to them. W. Prosser, supra § 15, at 87. It is not a necessary element of the tort that the convertor benefit from his act. Harrell v. Anderson, 294 F.Supp. 405, 407 (S.D.Ga.1968); W. Prosser, supra § 15, at 84 n.16; 89 C.J.S. Trover and Conversion § 3 (1955); cf. Pan American Petroleum Corp. v. Long, 340 F.2d 211, 220 (5th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 381 U.S. 926, 85 S.Ct. 1562, 14 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965) (The convertor may either have actual or constructive possession of the property.) (Emphasis added; footnote omitted.) The trial court instructed the jurors that, if they found that appellants had unjustifiably seized the property, the fact that the property in question may now be held by a person, other than the individuals who are before the Court, does not relieve [appellants] of responsibility. They bear the responsibility for placing it where [appellees] could not obtain it .... There was no error, we conclude, in this instruction, which fairly indicated that it is the removal of personalty from its rightful possessor, rather than personal benefit by the wrongdoer, which is essential to the tort of conversion.