4 So where a chaise was hired for an indefinite time and the hirer never returned it, it is for the Jury to say whether the original hiring was felonious, Aickle's case .........422 5 But in murder where the malice is implied, the Court and not the Jury is to determine the fact, Hazell's ........370 case has done his duty until the contrary be shewn, Jacob's case...309 5 It is the indispensable duty of every Justice of the Peace to take an information in writing, in all cases, whether of felony or misdemeanor, Fearshire's case. 6 A Scotch covenanter may be sworn ....... L. LARCENY. .202 3 Therefore where a man was sus- 4 So where the servant of an alder- away. 5 Larceny may be committed of a single bank-note, although the 2 Geo. II. c. 25. which makes the stealing choses in action felony, speaks only of bank-notes in the plural number, Hassel's case......1 6 But a commission issued out of Chancery for the purpose of set 11 To order goods of a tradesman to look at, under pretence of purchasing them, and to run away with them before any sale of them has taken place, is larceny, Greatrix and Sharpless's case..... .............92 12 Money stolen from a letter secreted by a servant of the Postoffice, is a larceny at common law; but he cannot be indicted for secreting the letter on the 5 Geo. III. c. 25. Skutt's case..... ..............106 13 To pull wool from the bodies of live sheep and lambs, if done not in frolic, but with an intent to steal it, is larceny, Martin's case......171 14 So also larceny may be committed by taking the milk from a cow; for it would be theft to steal the cow herself, and therefore felony to steal the product of the living animal..... .........172 15 If a horse be obtained on pretence of hiring it, the delivery of it by the owner does not divest him of the right of possession, and therefore if the original hiring was with intent to steal it, the party is thereby guilty of larceny, Pear's case 212 16 But if a horse be delivered to the pretended purchaser upon a bargain made, it is not felony, though he immediately ride away with it without paying the money, Justin Harvey's case....... ....467 17 To remove goods animo furandi from the head to the tail of a waggon, is not only a sufficient taking, but a sufficient carrying away, to constitute the crime of larceny, Coslet's case...... ..236 18 But if the package intended to be stolen lie in an horizontal posture, and be only raised from the ground, and set perpendicularly on its end, without being removed from the spot where originally deposited, this is no asportation, Cherry's case, 237 notis. 19 To obtain property from another by the practice of ring-dropping is larceny, if it appear that the property was taken out of the possession of the owner, and without his consent, Rex v. Patch............238 20 If a master deliver property into the hands of his servant for a special purpose, as to leave it at the house of a friend, or to deposit it with a banker, and the servant instead of so doing, convert it feloniously to his own use, the property is not parted with by such delivery, but still remains in the constructive possession of the owner, Lavender's case ........870 21 So where a surrogate gave his clerk £3. 18s. for the express purpose of buying blank licences with it, in stead of which he ran away with ......870 the money, Watson's case ...... 22 But where the prosecutor having purchased a large estate, and wishing to be prepared with the purchase-money, was persuaded by his stock-broker to sell out of the funds and invest the produce in exchequer bills, for which purpose he gave the prisoner a draft on his banker for £20,000, which the prisoner received, but only invested part of it in exchequer bills, and ran away with the remainder, it was held that the prosecutor had, by this delivery, parted with the possession and the property also, upon a trust and confidence that the prisoner would honestly perform the condition upon which the delivery was made, Rex v. Walsh ............1064 23 But now it is, by 52 Geo. III. c. 63. made a transportable misdemeanor for any broker or agent to misapply the several species of property therein mentioned, contrary to the order he shall receive in writing for any special purpose therein mentioned ..... .1082 case .... 24 So if a servant to whom goods have been delivered by his master to carry to a customer, sell them, and convert the money to his own use, he is guilty of larceny; for the right of possession is not out of the master by such delivery, W. Bass's .251 25 If a person be persuaded to lay down money, and to play at cutting the cards, and, on a dispute arising whether he had lost, one of the confederates sweep away the money and go off with it, this is a stealing from the possession of the owner, if done with a felonious design, Rex v. Horner............270 26 Where the taking to a certain amount constitutes the crime, the goods must be taken to that amount at one and the same time, for se 28 If a servant obtain gold coin from her master, on pretence of being able to get it changed into silver, but with a real design to steal it, it is larceny, Anne Atkinson's case, 302, notis. 29 So where a prisoner having pos session of a quantity of gold coin, 30 So if a bank-note be given by a landlady to her lodger, and he go away with it under pretence of going to a banker's to get it changed, Campbell's case ..564 31 Stealing deal-boards from a barge aground in Limehouse-dock is not a larceny on a navigable river within the 24 Geo. II. c. 45. for Limehouse-dock is a creek not a river, ........317 Pike's case 32 To steal lead affixed to a church is a larceny within the penalties of 4 Geo. II. c. 32. for a church is a building within the meaning of 40 Where there is a privity of con 35 To take plate from a trunk, and lay it on the floor with intent to steal it, is a sufficient taking and carrying away, C. Simpson's case, 322, notis. 36 But if a thief order the true man to lay his goods on the ground, but is detected in his intention to steal them before he has taken them up, this is neither a taking nor a carrying away, E. Farrel's case, 322, notis. 37 The 12 Ann. c. 7. taking away clergy from the offence of stealing to the amount of forty shillings in a dwelling house, does not extend to such a stealing in the prisoner's own house, E. Thompson's case..338 38 The felonious intent to steal must exist at the time the property is taken; for an obtaining, innocently or by contract, and fraudulently converting afterwards is no felony, Charlewood's case .............409 39 Therefore where the prosecutor's shop was on fire, the prisoner, a neighbour, assisted among other persons in removing the property, and afterwards denied having them, and converted the property so removed to her own use, and the Jury found that when she first took the goods she had no intention to steal, the Judges held it no felony, Leigh's .411, notis. case tract, larceny cannot be committed; but if after the privity be determined, the goods be taken animo furandi, it is felony, ibid........409 41 If a hackney-coachman, in whose coach a parcel is accidentally left, use no endeavours to restore it to the owner, but detain it, open it, and convert the contents to his own use, it is larceny; for though he obtains the property by finding, yet as it was not delivered to him, he has no right to it, and therefore the conversion of it is a taking from the possession of the owner, W. Wynne's ..413 case 42 So where a lady on being set down ordered the hackney coachman to deliver her parcel to her servant, which he neglected to do, and instantly drove away, and converted part of its contents to his own use, Sear's case ...............415, notis. 43 So in a case where a bureau was delivered to a carpenter to repair, and he discovered money in a secret drawer of it, which he broke open and converted the contents to his own use, this was held larceny, Green's case............... ........952 44 Obtaining a horse by pretending that another person wanted to hire it to go to B. is a felonious obtaining, if the party appear to have intended at the time to steal it, as by not going to B. but immediately going elsewhere and selling it, Charlewood's case .409 45 So a person who hires a post-chaise for an indefinite length of time, as, "to go round the north," and converts it to his own use, he is guilty of larceny, if the taking and conversion was ab origine felonious: for the delivery was for a special purpose, and though the possession was parted with, the property ulti 50 But if a person play at hiding under the hat, and stake down his money voluntarily on the event, meaning to receive the stake if he wins, and to pay it if he loses, a player taking up the stakes deposited on the table, is not a felonious taking from the possession of the owner, although the whole was a scheme of fraudulent conspiracy and collusion, Chappel's case...610 51 So if a tradesman sell a stranger goods, enter them to his debit, and make out a bill of parcels for them as goods bought, and the goods are delivered to the prosecutor's servant who receives bills for the amount, it is not a felonious obtaining, although the tradesman expected ready money and gave no credit, and the bills are forged and the prisoner's lodgings were taken for the very purpose of the fraud, Parkes's case, 614 52 But if the condition of a ring-dropper be that if he do not restore the property by such a time the whole of the ring shall belong to the dupe who delivered the property, it is felony; for although the possession is parted with, the property still remains with the owner, Watson's ........640 case 53 So if the party duped be induced to deliver twenty guineas, and four doubloons to the ring-dropper on receiving the ring, on a promise that the ring-dropper shall the next day return the twenty guineas, and the four doubloons, and the dupe restore the ring, it is felony, for the guineas and doubloons were only deposited as a pledge on the security of the ring, but not parted with as a loan, H. Moor's case .........316 54 So where the ring was deposited in the hand of the prosecutor, on his giving 50l. to the prisoner, on a condition that the prisoner would in half an hour bring back the 50l. to the prosecutor, and also 801. for his half of the supposed prize, and take back the ring, it was held felony, Marsh's case......345 55 To constitute larceny within 2 Geo. II. c. 25. the property must be available and of value, and taken from the peaceable possession of the owner, Mrs. Phipoe's case......673 56 Therefore where a person was compelled by duress to make a promissory note on stamped paper, previously prepared by the prisoner who was present during the time, and withdrew the note as soon as it was |