Court Opinion

ID: 9745778
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 13:31:30.700054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:04.533202
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
"Receiving" means acquiring possession, Indiana Code § 85-48-4-1(c), of property *893that "has been" stolen, Indiana Code § 85-43-4-2(b), with knowledge that it was stolen. "Retaining" means continuing possession of property that has been stolen after learning that it was stolen. The legislative purpose of the receiving stolen property statute is to render criminal conduct which affects a transfer of stolen goods from those guilty of asporting them to others, which (1) provides profit to the thief and encourages the business of theft and (2) decreases the probability that the true owner will regain possession.
In this case there was some circumstantial evidence that appellant was the thief, i.e., had exerted unauthorized control over Larry Williams' wallet, having taken it from either Mr. William's car or appellant's mother's truck. However, there is virtually no evidence that appellant acquired possession, learned that the credit cards and money were property of Mr. Williams, and then continued possession. See Ind.Code § 35-43-4-2(b) (West 1986). Based on the evidence in the record it might be reasonable to conclude that appellant took the wallet from his mother's truck intending to deprive Mr. Williams of the wallet's value or use, but appellant was not convicted of theft. There appears to be no evidence that appellant knew that the wallet had been stolen when he acquired it; such knowledge is required to sustain a conviction for receiving stolen property. Cochran v. State (1970), 255 Ind. 374, 377-78, 265 N.E.2d 19, 21. This Court recently accepted, unanimously, the requirement that a conviction under a virtually identical statute (Indiana Code § 35-43-4-2.5(c)) requires proof that the property was stolen by another. Armstead v. State (1989), Ind., 538 N.E.2d 943, 947. The demand of consistency in the law does not permit me to join the opinion of the majority.