If you were charged with a theft offense, it could result in serious fines and even jail time. While theft is often charged as a misdemeanor instead of a felony, a conviction for any charges could follow you on your record and hurt your future. However, there are strategies to challenge theft offenses.
Depending on the circumstances of your arrest and where and how the alleged theft took place, different strategies might be available. Challenging witnesses’ identification of you as the suspect can often hurt a prosecutor’s case, as can showing different circumstances that call into question your mental state. All in all, our lawyers can often look to the particular elements of the charges as well as the circumstances under which evidence was seized and arrests were affected in order to cut down the prosecution’s case.
For help with your theft charges, call the Salt Lake City theft defense lawyers at Overson Law today at (801) 758-2287.
Challenging Elements of Theft Charges in Utah
For the government to convict you of theft, they need to prove each element of the case beyond a reasonable doubt. In order to attack these elements, our Utah theft defense lawyers first need to examine the different elements:
There are multiple crimes that could be titled “theft,” including theft by deception, theft by extortion, theft of service, and many other crimes. Some are different only in the definition of what was taken – such as charges for theft of a rental vehicle. Otherwise, theft usually involves taking control over something that did not belong to you with the intent to keep it from the true owner. Sometimes, there are elements about how the theft was effectuated, such as theft by deception’s requirement that there were lies or deception involved.
We can attack different elements of these charges in the following ways:
Nothing was Actually Taken
Utah Code § 76-6-404 does not actually require that anything be “taken” in the traditional sense of being taken away or carried off. Even so, this element requires proof that you asserted control over something that wasn’t yours.
This element can sometimes be challenged by showing that you did not actually take the thing. However, the way this law is written is meant to cover situations where this argument would commonly be made, such as putting something in your purse in a store. In that situation, you might argue that you did not leave with it yet, so it is not theft yet. Unfortunately, the law is written to include putting something in a bag or backpack as “exercising control” over it. This makes this defense quite limited, but it could possibly help in your case.
No Knowledge that You Have It
If something was snuck into your backpack or dropped into your pocket, you cannot have known it was there and could not have formed the intent to steal it. The same is true, for example, if you simply missed scanning an item at self checkout: it could be an oversight instead of theft.
This defense will rely on your testimony being believed over the prosecution’s evidence, but this is precisely the kind of “reasonable doubt” that often wins theft cases for the defendant.
Statutory Defenses to Theft in Utah
Utah Code § 76-6-402 creates specific defenses that can be applied to many theft cases to help defend against theft charges:
Honest Claim to Property or Service
You cannot be found guilty of theft if you thought what you were accused of stealing was actually yours. This can apply to both property and services.
For example, if you and the person sitting next to you in a coffee shop had identical backpacks and you grabbed the wrong one, you would have honestly thought that it was your backpack. There would be no intent to have stolen anything when you thought you had your own backpack.
With theft of services, the circumstances that fall into this situation are less obvious. For example, you might have thought there was a promotion at a business or you might have misunderstood the pricing scheme and thought you were entitled to services that you were not.
Often, these kinds of cases can be worked out as a misunderstanding and will not be charged in the first place. However, when charges are filed, this defense can come in handy.
Honest Belief in Right to Take/Control Property
In another situation of mistaken belief, you cannot be convicted of theft if you thought you had permission or a right to take or exercise control over something. Again, some of these situations might be a bit confusing or farfetched, but these defenses are meant to cover exactly these kinds of situations.
One example of this might be that a friend told you to use their car, but you grabbed the wrong set of keys and borrowed someone else’s car thinking that it was your friend’s car. This could also involve something like bringing home a tool or device from work only for your employer to later accuse you of theft when you were under the impression you were allowed to use it after hours.
Honest Belief that the Owner Would Have Consented
If you legitimately think you are borrowing something without permission – but that the owner would have given their permission – then you cannot really be considered a thief.
A common example of this comes up with neighbors or friends who commonly borrow things from each other. If your neighbor usually lets you borrow their lawn care equipment, but they weren’t around for you to ask this time. If you took it anyway, they might end up calling the police. Because you honestly thought they would have given you permission to use it, it might be impossible to prove this was a true case of theft, and evidence that you had a history of sharing with each other could help provide reasonable doubt at the very least.
Call Our Utah Theft Defense Lawyers Today
For help with your theft charges, call the Ogden, UT theft defense attorneys at Overson Law by dialing (801) 758-2287.
