155.05 – Larceny; defined

§ 155.05 Larceny; defined.

1. A person steals property and commits larceny when, with intent to
   deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to
   a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property
   from an owner thereof.
2. Larceny includes a wrongful taking, obtaining or withholding of
   another’s property, with the intent prescribed in subdivision one of
   this section, committed in any of the following ways:

   (a) By conduct heretofore defined or known as common law larceny by
   trespassory taking, common law larceny by trick, embezzlement, or
   obtaining property by false pretenses;

   (b) By acquiring lost property.
   A person acquires lost property when he exercises control over
   property of another which he knows to have been lost or mislaid, or to
   have been delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient
   or the nature or amount of the property, without taking reasonable
   measures to return such property to the owner;

   (c) By committing the crime of issuing a bad check, as defined in
   section 190.05;

   (d) By false promise.
   A person obtains property by false promise when, pursuant to a scheme
   to defraud, he obtains property of another by means of a representation,
   express or implied, that he or a third person will in the future engage
   in particular conduct, and when he does not intend to engage in such
   conduct or, as the case may be, does not believe that the third person
   intends to engage in such conduct.
   In any prosecution for larceny based upon a false promise, the
   defendant’s intention or belief that the promise would not be performed
   may not be established by or inferred from the fact alone that such
   promise was not performed. Such a finding may be based only upon
   evidence establishing that the facts and circumstances of the case are
   wholly consistent with guilty intent or belief and wholly inconsistent
   with innocent intent or belief, and excluding to a moral certainty every
   hypothesis except that of the defendant’s intention or belief that the
   promise would not be performed;

   (e) By extortion.
   A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces
   another person to deliver such property to himself or to a third person
   by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so
   delivered, the actor or another will:
   (i) Cause physical injury to some person in the future; or

   (ii) Cause damage to property; or

   (iii) Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or

   (iv) Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be
   instituted against him; or

   (v) Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or
   false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule;
   or

   (vi) Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action
   injurious to some person’s business; except that such a threat shall not
   be deemed extortion when the property is demanded or received for the
   benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or
   (vii) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or

   information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense; or

   (viii) Use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing
   some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or
   refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some
   person adversely; or

   (ix) Perform any other act which would not in itself materially
   benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person
   materially with respect to his health, safety, business, calling,
   career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships.