Hi Mr. Glew:
I was buying audio equipment from my buddy for a really good price then reselling it on eBay. My friend got arrested for theft and the cops came to my house and questioned me about the stuff I sold on eBay. I ended up talking to them for a half hour and when they left they said they might charge me with possessing stolen property. I don't think the equipment was stolen, but you never know. I definitely don't know for a fact it was stolen. Can they really charge me with receiving stolen property if I didn't know it was stolen?
]
Yes and no. Penal Code section 496 is the governing statute, and to be
convicted of receiving stolen property, a prosecutor must prove, beyond a
reasonable doubt, that the property in question was stolen, that you
“received” the property, and that you knew the property was stolen.
A
violation of Penal Code section 496 is a wobbler, meaning it can be
charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Property is considered
stolen if it is obtained through, among other things, theft.
Further,
you have received property when you have possession and control over
it. Finally, a prosecutor need not prove that you had direct knowledge
the property was stolen (i.e. you watched your friend steal it), but
rather can show knowledge through circumstantial evidence, namely the
“really good price” you got.
It sounds like you didn't take my
long-standing advice of remaining silent when being interrogated by law
enforcement, and given what you have told me, it sounds as though you
may be good for a conviction for receiving stolen property. My advice
to you is to make no further statements to the police, and to retain
counsel immediately, to help prevent your case from being filed as a
felony, or to prevent it from being filed at all. It is very important
to be proactive when defending your rights, regardless of whether you
are in the pre or post filing stage.
Remember, if a deal looks too
good to be true, it probably is and the items are most likely stolen.
Send questions to
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Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).