Exam 9: Theft,Fraud,and Related Offenses

Holly has been out partying most of the evening.She has been drinking heavily.She recognizes that she should not attempt to drive home.Instead,she calls a taxicab.When the taxi arrives Holly tells the driver an address that is actually two blocks from her apartment.Upon arrival at the address,the taxi driver tells Holly,"That will be $12.50." Instead of paying the driver,Holly jumps from the cab and runs away.Holly has committed:

Jason is a retired professional football player.Mack is a big football fan.Mack steals Jason's photo album containing photographs of Jason in every game Jason played.By the time Mack is identified,arrested,and charged with theft,the album is substantially damaged due to flooding of Mack's home.The market value of the photo album cannot be determined as most of its value was sentimental.Accordingly,Texas statute sets the penalty level of the theft of the album as a:

Case law holds that the prosecution must put the defendant "behind the wheel" operating the vehicle to sustain an unauthorized use of a vehicle charge.

If Jane,angry at Brett,flushes Brett's cellphone down the toilet,Jane has committed an act of theft.

Billy Joe goes to Mardi Gras in Galveston.Along the sidewalk he observes Frenchy who is performing card tricks.Frenchy places three playing cards face down on a table.One of the cards is the queen of spades.Frenchy shows the crowd the queen and then shuffles the cards several times across the tabletop.Frenchy is taking bets on whether anyone can pick the queen out of the three cards.Billy Joe lays $10 on the table and declares he can find the queen.Frenchy again shuffles the cards while Billy Joe watches intensely.When Frenchy finally lays the cards on the table,Billy Joe picks the card in the middle.Frenchy turns the card over to reveal the six of hearts.Frenchy takes Billy Joe's $10.An undercover police officer observes the incident and notices that Frenchy is "palming" the queen so that it appears to end up in the middle of the three cards on the table.In fact,another card,the six of hearts,is cleverly substituted so that the queen is not on the table at all! What is the most serious offense,if any,Frenchy has committed?

The offense of theft involves a person unlawfully appropriating property with intent to deprive the owner of property.Identify the four ways in which property may be appropriated in an unlawful manner and briefly explain each way.

A person can commit theft of real estate even though real estate cannot be moved or carried away.

Roger is walking down the street eating a hot dog.He observes a cute black and white puppy sitting in the rear seat of a convertible.Roger approaches the car and waives the hot dog in front of the puppy.The puppy jumps out of the convertible to try to get the hot dog.Roger begins jogging down the street waving the hot dog.The puppy chases Roger all the way home.Roger lures the dog into his house.Over the next several days,Roger begins training the dog to be his pet and makes no effort to locate the dog's true owner.Roger has committed:

Rob works for the college's trash collection service.One day he finds in the trash a copy of Shondra's credit card statement.That evening,using the credit card number from the statement,he orders $600 worth of video games from an online seller.Rob has the games sent to his cousin Tom,who resides in another state.The most serious offense Rob has committed is:

What are the differences in the elements that must be proven when comparing theft of an automobile and unauthorized use of a vehicle?

Billy Bob goes to a professional baseball game with his friend Buster.Billy Bob passes out from too much beer and too little offense to keep his attention.Seeing an opportunity to improve his economic condition,Buster steals $25 from Billy Bob's wallet,leaving another $20 in the wallet.When Billy Bob awakes,he never misses the $25.The most serious offense,if any,Buster has committed is:

The Texas forgery statute applies only to forging of "writings."

Under the Texas theft statute,the penalty level is often determined by the value of the stolen property.Value of stolen property is determined by the $\underline{ (\text { two words })}$ value of the item.

The offense of unlawful use of a vehicle focuses on the scope of permission the suspect has in using the vehicle,not his or her ultimate intentions.

The primary victim of criminal activity related to identity theft is:

Theft of any goat,sheep,pig,or cow is a felony under Texas law.

Chelsea,a 22-year-old,is addicted to heroin.She frequently steals items to resell in order to get money to support her addiction.One day she takes her grandmother's $825 Social Security check and signs the grandmother's name on the back.She then gives the check to Freddie,her boyfriend,who agrees to try to cash it.At the bank the teller becomes suspicious of Freddie when he presents the check.The teller refuses to cash the check and summons the bank security guard.The guard detains Freddie until the police arrive.The most serious offense Chelsea has committed is:

Any refusal to pay for a service after it has been provided is a violation of the theft of service statute.

Unless Julia pays Roger $5,000,Roger tells Julia that he will tell Julia's employer that she was fired from her previous job for embezzling money.Julia says,"That's blackmail!" Roger replies,"It may be blackmail but it is also true." Julia pays Roger the $5,000.A few days later she decides to face the consequences of her previous conduct and reports the incident to a police officer.The officer could correctly tell Julia that under Texas law Roger has committed:

Failure to pay one's apartment rent within 10 days of its due date constitutes theft of service.