How do you arrest a corporation?

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@dracoi

This. A corporation only exists because the government allows it to (articles of incorporation or whatever the state’s specific term is). The government doesn’t have to “arrest” a corporation to have control over its very existence. It might have to arrest individuals or impound assets, but the OP’s case cited doesn’t really warrant that.

That is only true insofar as the corporation is convicted of a crime in its state of incorporation.

[Northern_Piper]

@Saint_Cad

… someone at the bank is looking at a pile of personal possessions. They think the stuff was taken from Person A but it was really taken from Person B but that really doesn’t matter because under no conditions did those possessions belong to the bank. They knowingly took someone else’s property (doesn’t matter whose) and sold/destroyed it.

But if they sent a notice to Person A, as is likely required by the mortgage, saying “We’ve got your stuff - come pick it up before X date or we’ll dispose of it,” and Person A doesn’t pick it up, so they junk it, the bank still doesn’t have a criminal intent.

[Saint_Cad]

@Northern_Piper

But if they sent a notice to Person A, as is likely required by the mortgage, saying “We’ve got your stuff - come pick it up before X date or we’ll dispose of it,” and Person A doesn’t pick it up, so they junk it, the bank still doesn’t have a criminal intent.

Did they? Not only do I question if this bank would send a notice if they don’t even take an inventory, but what address did would they send it to?

And apparently in Ohio they can’t take ownership/destroy the personal property for at least 30 days and if I remember the story, they had it a lot less than 30 days.

[Northern_Piper]

All of which suggests there are a lot of facts we don’t know about this case. It’s simply not possible to decide, based on the skimpy news reports, that there’s been a criminal offence or not.

[dracoi]

@Saint_Cad

As far as I know and Ohio may be different but in California personal items removed during a foreclosure remain the property of the (now former) homeowner. Assuming that is true in Ohio, someone at the bank is looking at a pile of personal possessions. They think the stuff was taken from Person A but it was really taken from Person B but that really doesn’t matter because under no conditions did those possessions belong to the bank. They knowingly took someone else’s property (doesn’t matter whose) and sold/destroyed it.

So are you saying that if I have possession (even legally obtained) of someone’s property but I do not own it, that if I destroy or sell it that there is no crime because there was no intent? That’s the problem. If they stored her stuff and gave it back to her then no crime but they knew (or should have know) those possessions didn’t belong to the bank yet they knowingly deprived the real owner of them. That is a crime.

And if that’s not a crime, why don’t you go ahead and store your car at my house next time you go on vacation.

Well, my example of the murder/manslaughter/self defense continuum should address this. In manslaughter, a person dies, there was no intent to kill, and yet a crime still exists. In the case of manslaughter the criminal element usually hinges on some kind of negligence or reckless behavior. This is why drunk driving usually fits manslaughter - you don’t set out to kill anyone, but your choice to drink and drive was negligent.

And here we (potentially) have the same thing. Perhaps there is some element of negligence, reckless behavior, failure to follow through on procedures that would make this criminal. I’m not stating with any certainty that no crime was committed.

What I’m saying is that you cannot simply state “Things were taken” and conclude “Crime committed!” without looking in more detail at the facts and statutes involved. Certainly the crime of burglary (the wording in the OP’s linked article) requires more than just accidental taking so we’d have to look for a different crime. In a case like this, we have all kinds of property and banking laws, so I’ll leave it to the experts to determine the facts and see if those facts fit the definition of any crime.

We have to be open to the possibly that this unfortunate set of events is merely unfortunate and not necessarily criminal.