Commonwealth v. Liebenow
Annotate this CaseDefendant, who was in the business of collecting and selling scrap metal, was convicted of larceny under $250 in connection with his removal of steel pipe from a construction site located on private property. Defendant claimed as an affirmative defense at trial that he lacked the requisite intent to steal because he honestly but mistakenly believed that the property he removed from the site was abandoned. The trial judge viewed the affirmative defense as requiring proof that Defendant’s belief was objectively reasonable. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) an honest belief need not be objectively reasonable to negate the specific intent required for larceny; and (2) Defendant adequately raised the defense of honest belief that the items he took were abandoned, and it was the Commonwealth’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant’s subjective belief was not honestly held but, instead, was a pretense.
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