Criminal Law

Brief

Burns v. State

Procedural History:

• Lower court convicted the defendant of larceny as a bailee.
• Appealed.
• Acquittal of the accused of the offense of larceny is not inconsistent with his conviction of the statute offense of larceny as bailee.

Facts:

• A constable taking an insane man into custody after pursuit received from another of the pursuers a roll of money that had been thrown away by the man in his flight.

Issue:

• Was the finder a bailee?

Holding:

• Yes

Reasoning:

• The court finds that If one, without the trespass which characterizes ordinary larceny, comes into possession of any personally of another and is in duty bound to exercise some degree of care to preserve and restore the thing to such other or to some other person for that other, or otherwise account for the property as that of such other, according to circumstances—he is a bailee.
• Taking without present intent to appropriate raises all the contractual elements essential to a bailment.
• The court found the finder in this case to be a bailee.
• The court then found the defendant guilty of larceny.