A person commits the offense of theft of lost or mislaid property when he comes into control of property that he knows or learns to have been lost or mislaid and appropriates the property to his own use without first taking reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner.
(Code 1933, § 26-1805, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1.)
Law reviews.- For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Variance between indictment and proof.
- When the indictment mistakenly combined the elements (date, amount, and collateral) of several different loan transactions, and the evidence presented at trial did not comport with the allegations in the indictment, the conviction was reversed. Gentry v. State, 202 Ga. App. 465, 414 S.E.2d 696 (1992).
Evidence sufficient for conviction.
- Evidence that the defendant and the defendant's friend came into possession of the victim's bank deposit bag containing checks, deposit slips, and cash, which the victim had misplaced while it was being transported and which related to the victim's business, and evidence that police found checks belonging to the victim in the defendant's purse and in a bag belonging to the defendant, as well as a large amount of cash in the defendant's wallet, was sufficient to support the defendant's conviction for theft of mislaid property as the evidence showed the defendant knew the mislaid property did not belong to the defendant and nevertheless appropriated that property to the defendant's own use without first taking reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner. Shannon v. State, 258 Ga. App. 689, 574 S.E.2d 889 (2002).
Cited in English v. State, 202 Ga. App. 751, 415 S.E.2d 659 (1992).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 50 Am. Jur. 2d, Larceny, §§ 57, 97 et seq.
C.J.S.- 52B C.J.S., Larceny, §§ 46, 53.
ALR.
- Larceny or embezzlement by appropriating money or proceeds of paper mistakenly delivered in excess of the amount due or intended, 14 A.L.R. 894.
What constitutes tax-deductible theft loss under 26 USCS § 165, 98 A.L.R. Fed. 229.