1. In which of the following cases is the defendant most likely to be convicted if she is charged with receiving stolen property?

The crime of receiving stolen property requires that the defendant receives stolen personal property that he knows was obtained through a criminal offense with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of his interest in the property. The property must be actually stolen at the time of receipt by the defendant.

B is correct. In this question, the element at issue is the «stolen» status of the property, and this is the only answer choice where all elements are present. First, the car the defendant purchased was, in fact, stolen. The facts say that the man had stolen the car with the help of a friend. The fact that the friend, unknown to the defendant or the man, was actually an undercover cop, does not change the stolen status of the car. Second, the defendant had knowledge. Before the purchase, the man told the defendant the car was stolen. Finally, the third element is met because by purchasing a car, the man is intending to permanently deprive the true owner of the car.

A is incorrect. Here, the first element of whether the property was in fact stolen is at issue. The facts state that the car had been stolen originally by the man, but afterward the man joined forces to work with the police as an agent. The car, therefore, was technically in custody of the police or a police agent at the time the defendant received it, and thus no longer qualified as stolen property.

C is incorrect. In this answer, the man had stolen the car from a parking lot and had been caught by the police as he was driving it away. He agreed to cooperate with the police and carry through with his prearranged sale of the car to the defendant. Because the car was stolen but subsequently recovered by the police before the sale to the man, it lost its status as stolen.

D is incorrect. In this answer choice, the man was, in fact, the owner of the car but had reported it as stolen and had collected on a fraudulent claim of its theft from his insurance company. As such, the car was never actually stolen. Property must, in fact, be stolen in order for a defendant to be convicted of receiving stolen property.