Actually, not so.
At common law, thetf was the dishonest taking of another person’s propoerty with the intention of permanantly depriving the rightful owner of its use.
If a jury that heard the case believed that the keys were taken with the intent of finding the rightful owner and returning them, and the charge was common-law theft, the verdict is not guilty.
The key aspect to that statement is, of course, “if the jury believed…”
Yes, but wouldn’t the very same be true if I drove the car away, rather than just take the keys? All it would take would be a dumber jury.
I believe, around these parts, that leaving your keys in the ignition is illegal. So is leaving your car running unattended.
If that’s the case where these stings took place could the thief use that as a defense - that the cops used an illegal activity to bait the would be thief?
Leaving your keys in the ignition is illegal? Huh? :dubious:
I agree, I would like to see a cite for that.
Sure. If you could get the jury to believe your intent in driving the car away was to remove it from that bad neighborhood where it might be stolen, and then return it to its owner, you’d get a not-guilty.
So, if I offer the undercover cop dinner, and a movie, and then we’ll have sex, is that solicitation? If she asks me to take her out to a show, and buy dinner, flowers, and candy first, and then we’ll have sex, is that entrapment?
Tris
Entrapment of what crime? Solicitation of prostitution involves money for sex. That doesn’t appear to have occurred here, just a really good first date.
Barter for sex? Interesting question.
How about I have sign a contract to pay her, as an actress, to “rehearse” for a porno scene intended to be filmed at a later date?
Makes me wonder about the entrapment idea that several people have suggested were a cop tries to convince someone to steal the car. Since the cop is the “owner” or at least the representative of the owner, since the car belongs to the state, the fact that the cop tried to get you to steal it means you did in fact have the owners permission.
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I have heard from time to time that leaving your keys in the ignition (unattended) voids your insurance. If the car is stolen, you are on the hook for replacement/repairs.
I’m no lawyer either, but it seems that entrapment always involves four things. When someone is persuading the victim to commit a crime that he otherwise wouldn’t have committed, there has to be a someone, they have to actively persuade, a crime has to end up being committed, and the persuasion and the crime have to be cause and effect - it wouldn’t really be entrapment if the one who commits the crime was going to do it regardless.
Doing all that sort of defeats the purpose of a prostitute in the first place.
Good luck convincing a jury.
I don’t think prostitution actually requires money, and I understand that barter of drugs for sex is also not uncommon (though of course, there you also have drug crimes in addition to the prostitution). I think that prostitution just requires an exchange of something of value for the sex.
Dinner-and-a-movie is not (generally) considered prostitution, because there’s no expectation of a quid pro quo. If the man pays for the woman’s movie ticket and dinner bill, that’s a gift, not a payment. He might be hoping to get sex afterwards, but that’s a separate transaction. But if a guy were stupid enough to say “I’ll buy you dinner, but only if you’ll agree to have sex with me afterwards”, then that would technically be soliciting for prostitution.
I know I’m eleven years too late, but maybe they were thinking with the engine running. They do give tickets out for that here.
I sort of miss “Bait Car”.
I loved the ridiculous excuses.
“This dude gave me $10 to park his car around the corner.” (after being followed for over a mile)
“This guy wanted me to drive his car to his home.” (unable to give address of this guy’s home)
“I didn’t want the owner to get a ticket.” (legally parked car)
Me, too. My favorite one was the guy who took off in the car and started smoking crack. When the car shut down and the red lights came on, he nearly shit himself trying to get just one more hit off that pipe.
In the UK, a person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
At one time people would steal cars (sometimes just to get themselves home, or just to drive around in) and claim that they had no intention of keeping them. This led to the creation of an offece known as TWOC (Taking without owner’s consent). Twoc has now become a verb and the offence is colloquially called twocking. This would clearly apply to someone getting into a stranger’s car and driving it away - there would also be the lack of valid insurance to charge the miscreant with.
Bait cars are used here and often fitted with CCTV to catch someone who steals the contents but not the car.