So my officers bought a 32" tv from Wal-Mart (so owned by the PD), and placed it in the back of a truck in the parking lot of Wal-Mart to set up a sting operation. No one took the bait. They moved the truck around, still no one took the bait. So they decided to put the TV (still in box) in a shopping cart and put the cart on the far end of the parking lot. I now have 5 defendants who tried to take the TV. Probable defenses will be abandonment or the element "without the owner's effective consent" because clearly the owner (the PD) placed the tv there to be taken....beyond that, I'm having a bit of a problem justifying prosecution. It just smells bad to me for some reason. Any opinions on this issue are welcome!
I'm not smelling it at all. Why does it matter where the officers put the TV on the premises? It was still in its original wrapping on the Wal-Mart parking lot. To any reasonable person it belonged to a purchaser--probably in the process of loading it--or even Wal-Mart. If it had been unwrapped, abandonment may be more likely. But, in any event, why wouldn't someone check with Wal-Mart employees first? Think of the bait bicycles used by some departments.
Posts: 444 | Location: Austin, Texas, USA | Registered: January 06, 2010
