What Defines Larceny?

At common law, Larceny was defined as the trespassory taking and carrying away of the tangible personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive that individual with the use of his property. North Carolina additionally applies the doctrine of recent possession. This doctrine goes even further to allow evidence to be introduced that a defendant is in possession of stolen goods after a theft, which a jury may use to infer that the person in possession is the thief.

In North Carolina, the doctrine of recent possession may be regularly applied if (1) the property described in the indictment was stolen (2) the property found in the possession of the accused was stolen property, and (3) the possession was recently after the theft.

Whether your charge is considered a Misdemeanor or a Felony, Larceny is considered a “Crime of Moral Turpitude” and can stigmatize anyone’s record. Once a crime of moral turpitude is placed on your record it will undoubtedly tarnish your criminal record forever. Remember, you have options, by working closely with a Criminal Attorney you may be able to be awarded a dismissal or deferred prosecution after completing a court assigned program.

14-72. Larceny of property; receiving stolen goods or possessing stolen goods.

North Carolina leaves the definition of larceny to the common law and uses the statutes to set punishment

In North Carolina there is no statutory section that lists the elements of larceny. G.S. 14-70 is headed “Distinctions between grand and petit larceny abolished; punishment; accessories to larceny,” and provides that “all distinctions between petit and grand larceny are abolished. Unless otherwise provided by statute, larceny is a Class H felony and is subject to the same rules of criminal procedure and principles of law as to accessories before and after the fact as other felonies.”

The elements therefore come from the common law, and North Carolina courts state them as a taking of the property of another, a carrying away of that property, without the owner’s consent, and with the intent at the time of the taking to deprive the owner of it permanently. Each of those is a separate thing the State must prove, and each fails independently.

The carrying away element — asportation at common law — is satisfied by very slight movement, but it is not satisfied by nothing. Cases turn on it more often than people expect, particularly where a person is stopped before leaving a shop or a vehicle.

The value of the property sets the class

G.S. 14-72(a) fixes the working line in North Carolina. “Larceny of goods of the value of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) is a Class H felony,” and larceny “where the value of the property or goods is not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), is a Class 1 misdemeanor.” The same subsection applies the same threshold to receiving and possessing stolen goods, and closes by directing that “in all cases of doubt, the jury shall, in the verdict, fix the value of the property stolen.”

North Carolina appellate decisions measure value as the fair market value of the property at the time and place of the taking. Replacement cost, insured value, sentimental value and original purchase price are all different figures, and the difference between them is frequently the difference between a misdemeanor in Mecklenburg County District Court and a felony in Superior Court.

Where several items are taken in one continuous transaction, North Carolina treats the episode as a single larceny and aggregates the values. That rule cuts both ways: it can lift a series of small takings over the threshold, and it can also prevent the State from charging one incident as several separate larcenies.

Six circumstances make larceny a felony without regard to value

G.S. 14-72(b) provides that “the crime of larceny is a felony, without regard to the value of the property in question,” where the larceny falls into one of six categories. G.S. 14-72(a) then states the class directly: “Larceny as provided in subsection (b) of this section is a Class H felony.” The default in G.S. 14-70 leads to the same result.

“From the person”
“Committed pursuant to a violation of G.S. 14-51, 14-53, 14-54, 14-54.1, or 14-57”
“Of any explosive or incendiary device or substance,” as that phrase is defined in the subsection
“Of any firearm,” as that term is defined in the subsection
“Of any record or paper in the custody of the North Carolina State Archives as defined by G.S. 121-2(7) and G.S. 121-2(8)”
Committed after at least four prior convictions for larceny offenses, in this State or another jurisdiction, subject to the counting limits G.S. 14-72(b)(6) writes into the category

The doctrine of recent possession is an inference, not a shortcut around proof

The Supreme Court of North Carolina described the doctrine in State v. Maines, 301 N.C. 669 (1981): it “is simply a rule of law that, upon an indictment for larceny, possession of recently stolen property raises a presumption of the possessor’s guilt of the larceny of such property.” It allows the State to reach a jury on larceny without a witness to the taking itself.

Maines also sets out what the State must show beyond a reasonable doubt before the doctrine applies: that the property described in the indictment was stolen; that the stolen goods were found in the defendant’s custody and subject to his control and disposition to the exclusion of others, though not necessarily on his person, so long as he had the power and intent to control the goods; and that the possession was recent after the larceny. Mere possession of stolen property, without those showings, does not raise the presumption.

The strength of the inference varies. North Carolina courts have said it is strong or weak depending on the circumstances of the case and the length of time between the larceny of the goods and their discovery in the defendant’s possession. A short interval and exclusive control make it strong; a long interval, shared premises or joint access make it weak.

Intent is what separates larceny from a dispute about property

The intent element in North Carolina is an intent to deprive the owner permanently, and it must exist at the time of the taking. A person who takes property under a genuine claim of right, or who takes it intending to return it, does not commit larceny — however unreasonable the belief may look afterwards.

The legislature has provided a separate section for one of those situations. G.S. 14-72.2 makes it an offense to take or operate “an aircraft, motorboat, motor vehicle, or other motor-propelled conveyance of another” without the express or implied consent of the owner or person in lawful possession. Unauthorized use of an aircraft is a Class H felony; all other unauthorized use of a motor-propelled conveyance is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Its existence is the clearest indication that taking without an intent to deprive permanently is treated differently from larceny.

Deception is also handled elsewhere. G.S. 14-100 covers obtaining property by false pretenses — using “any kind of false pretense whatsoever” with “intent to cheat or defraud” — and is a Class C felony where the value is $100,000 or more and a Class H felony below that. The section expressly states that “evidence of nonfulfillment of a contract obligation standing alone shall not establish the essential element of intent to defraud.”

Animals, firearms and records are graded by their own rules

In North Carolina, G.S. 14-81 removes livestock from the general value test entirely. Larceny of horses, mules, swine or cattle is a Class H felony and larceny of a dog is a Class I felony, with no threshold written into the section. The section also requires, as a minimum punishment, that the person be placed on probation on conditions including restitution for the damage or loss caused by the larceny and a fine of not less than that amount, while leaving the judge’s sentencing authority otherwise intact. The common assumption that an animal is valued like any other chattel and measured against the $1,000 line is therefore wrong in these cases.

Larceny of a firearm is a felony regardless of value under G.S. 14-72(b)(4), and the same is true of explosives and incendiary devices under G.S. 14-72(b)(3) and of records in the custody of the North Carolina State Archives under G.S. 14-72(b)(5). Each of the first two categories carries a definition inside the subsection that narrows it: the firearm definition includes a weapon that cannot be fired at the time of the theft if it can be made to work, and excludes air rifles and air pistols, while the explosives definition excludes fireworks and ordinary fuels serving a legitimate use in the quantity stolen. The property, not the price tag, decides the grade.

Attempt, conspiracy and the effect of prior convictions

North Carolina grades inchoate offenses generally. G.S. 14-2.5 provides that “unless a different classification is expressly stated, an attempt to commit a misdemeanor or a felony is punishable under the next lower classification as the offense which the offender attempted to commit,” with an attempt at a Class I felony being a Class 1 misdemeanor. G.S. 14-2.4 grades conspiracy one class below the offense conspired at, subject to the same qualification.

Prior larceny convictions can operate on the class directly, but the statute does not simply count heads. G.S. 14-72(b)(6) makes larceny a felony without regard to value where the defendant has previously been convicted, in this State or another jurisdiction, of larceny offenses or substantially similar offenses at least four times, whether those convictions were misdemeanors, felonies or a mixture. Two express limits sit inside the same subdivision. A conviction is not included in the four “unless the defendant was represented by counsel or waived counsel at first appearance or otherwise prior to trial or plea.” And where a person is convicted of more than one misdemeanor larceny “in a single session of district court, or in a single week of superior court or of a court in another jurisdiction, only one of the convictions may be used as a prior conviction,” except that convictions for offenses that occurred in separate counties each count separately.

Those limits are the reason a record that looks on its face like four or more larcenies may not support the elevated charge. Counting the prior convictions is a task the defense can do independently, and the session and county in which each was entered matter as much as the number of them.

Habitual felon status sits above all of that. Under G.S. 14-7.1 a person convicted of or pleading guilty to three felony offenses is declared a habitual felon, but only where the second was committed after conviction or plea for the first and the third after conviction or plea for the second. Where a person is indicted and convicted as a habitual felon, G.S. 14-7.6 requires sentencing “at a felony class level that is four classes higher than the principal felony for which the person was convicted,” subject to a ceiling of Class C.

How a larceny charge moves through the Mecklenburg County courts

Misdemeanor larceny is a District Court matter in North Carolina. G.S. 7A-272(a) gives the district court “exclusive, original jurisdiction for the trial of criminal actions, including municipal ordinance violations, below the grade of felony,” so a Charlotte misdemeanor larceny is calendared in Mecklenburg County District Court and tried without a jury in the first instance.

Felony larceny proceeds in Superior Court, ordinarily on an indictment returned by the grand jury. G.S. 7A-272(c) permits a district court to accept a plea of guilty or no contest to a Class H or I felony where the presiding district court judge, the prosecutor and the defendant consent, and where the case was charged by information under G.S. 15A-644.1 and remains in district court, or was transferred back from Superior Court under G.S. 15A-1029.1. That is the mechanism behind a plea taken in district court on a felony larceny.

Sentencing runs through the structured sentencing charts. The felony chart in G.S. 15A-1340.17 and the misdemeanor chart in G.S. 15A-1340.23 fix, for each combination of offense class and prior record or prior conviction level, both the permissible terms and whether a community, intermediate or active punishment is authorized.

Common questions

What are the elements of larceny in North Carolina?

North Carolina uses the common law elements, because G.S. 14-70 sets punishment rather than defining the offense. The State must prove a taking of the property of another, a carrying away of that property, without the owner’s consent, and an intent at the time of the taking to deprive the owner of the property permanently. Each element must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and the carrying-away element is satisfied by slight movement but not by none.

What is the doctrine of recent possession in North Carolina?

It is a rule stated in State v. Maines, 301 N.C. 669 (1981), that possession of recently stolen property raises a presumption of the possessor’s guilt of the larceny. The presumption arises only where the State shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the property in the indictment was stolen, that it was in the defendant’s custody and subject to his control to the exclusion of others, and that the possession was recent after the theft. The strength of the inference falls away as the interval lengthens.

Does the value of the property change the larceny charge in North Carolina?

Yes, in most cases. Under G.S. 14-72(a), larceny of goods worth more than $1,000 is a Class H felony and larceny of $1,000 or less is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Value is the fair market value at the time and place of the taking, and the same subsection directs the jury to fix the value in the verdict in all cases of doubt. G.S. 14-72(b) sets out six situations where value is irrelevant, and G.S. 14-81 grades larceny of livestock and dogs without any value threshold.

Do four previous larceny convictions automatically make the next charge a felony in North Carolina?

Not automatically. G.S. 14-72(b)(6) makes larceny a felony without regard to value after at least four prior larceny convictions, but it counts a prior conviction only where the defendant was represented by counsel or waived counsel at first appearance or otherwise before trial or plea, and it treats several misdemeanor larceny convictions entered in a single session of district court, or a single week of superior court or a court in another jurisdiction, as one prior conviction — except where the offenses occurred in separate counties, in which case each counts separately.

Is borrowing something without asking larceny in North Carolina?

Not if the intent to deprive permanently is absent, because that intent is an element of larceny and must exist at the time of the taking. North Carolina addresses one common version of this separately: G.S. 14-72.2 makes it an offense to take or operate a motor vehicle, motorboat or other motor-propelled conveyance without the express or implied consent of the owner or lawful possessor, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and a Class H felony where an aircraft is involved, without requiring an intent to deprive permanently.

Written for North Carolina law and reviewed by David P. Sheehan, attorney, Charlotte. General information, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.