What Is Considered Larceny in Tennessee?

Theft is an umbrella term used to cover varying types and levels of criminal offenses, one of them being larceny. Without further introduction, please read on to discover the elements that make a crime considered larceny in the state of Tennessee and how one of the seasoned Clarksville shoplifting lawyers at Fendley and Birch can help you better understand what charges you are up against.

What are the elements of larceny, per Tennessee law?

In short, the definition of larceny is the unlawful taking of property. More specifically, though, it involves four key elements, and they read as follows:

You must have unlawfully taken possession of a certain piece of property.
This piece of property must have belonged to someone other than you.
The rightful owner of this property did not give you explicit consent to take it.
Your intention must have been to deprive the rightful owner of this property permanently.

An example of larceny is if you acquire a lost piece of property without attempting to return it to its rightful owner. Or, if you make a false promise to borrow a piece of property from its rightful owner and fail to return it. Lastly, if you issue a bad check after someone else offers you a service for which you agreed to compensate them.

What are the gradings for theft in the state of Tennessee?

Theft in the form of larceny may be classified as a misdemeanor if the stolen piece of property is valued at $500 or less. Anything of a higher value may be punished as a felony. Without further ado, Tennessee’s theft gradings are as follows:

Class A misdemeanor: theft of property valued at $500 or less.
Class E felony: theft of property valued between $500 to $1,000.
Class D felony: theft of property valued between $1,000 to $10,000.
Class C felony: theft of property valued between $10,000 to $60,000.
Class B felony: theft of property valued between $60,000 to $250,000.
Class A felony: theft of property valued at $250,000 or more.

Say you stole more than one piece of property. With this, you may be unsure whether you will be charged with one or multiple larceny offenses. Well, the court may only charge you once if your multiple acts of larceny were part of a common scheme, purpose, intent, or enterprise. This may not necessarily be a good thing, though, because the court will total the value of all the property you stole to grade your theft charge. Obviously, as this value gets higher, your potential punishments may be more severe. This may be to the point that your misdemeanor gets upgraded to a felony, for example.

You must retain legal representation before you even get close to hearing your ultimate sentence. So please, contact one of the competent Montgomery County criminal defense lawyers from Fendley and Birch today.