Ask the Lawyer

Criminal Law

Posted

Q: Every holiday season I watch It’s a Wonderful Life, and I have to confess it always leaves me more than a bit angry that Mr. Potter gets away scot-free with taking Uncle Billy’s money when he forgot it at the bank. Is there anything that Potter could have been charged with?


A:
Yes, there was and is a provision for punishing people who find lost property and take no steps to assure its return. In 1945 the former Penal Code contained a charge called “Appropriating Lost Property.” That statute provided that a person who “finds lost property under circumstances which gives him knowledge or means of inquiry as to the true owner…without having first made every reasonable effort to find the owner and restore the property to him” is guilty of larceny if they retain it. Potter’s finding and keeping the Bailey Building and Loan’s money would have made him guilty of this offense.

Our current, modern Penal Law includes the finding and retention of lost property as a way in which to commit larceny and generally contains the same language. Under New York Law, the finder of lost property has a claim to the property greater than everyone but the true owner and is allowed to keep it, provided that they follow required provisions in the State’s Personal Property Law—failing to follow those provisions can result in a misdemeanor charge.

The State requires the finder of property with a value of twenty dollars or more turn the property into the local Police Department. If the Department is unable to return the property to the rightful owner, the finder is entitled to the property. While one might think that arrests for finding lost property are the rarity, the New York City Police Department has in recent years arrested people who retrieved property that the police had left in a public place for them to find. In another rare, yet reported case, an individual who found a dog and asked the owner for a reward for its return was found guilty of larceny. Asking for and collecting a reward where none is offered amounted to the crime of larceny.

Page 1 / 2