TubaForum.net

That reminds me of seeing a Miraphone 180 f tuba advertised in a pawn shop in San Bernardino, CA which was ranked as theist dangerous city in CA and pretty high up their nationally (but below Memphis )

Went in to look at it, assuming it was warm. Sure enough CSULA was scratched into it on the back. Left the store a d gave Cal State LA’s police a call.

Maybe a past employee or student took it as a "parting gift"...(??)

They had probably attended Apex Tech back in the day, where "You get to keep the tools when you graduate!" He thought the school-issued tuba was like that.

The campus police followed up with me after it was all settled. The student admitted to pilfering and pawning the tuba and used the money to buy drugs...

Ah, another victimless drug crime!

That changes everything.

Actual question -- if an item is stolen, then someone buys it from the pawn shop... What happens if the original owner (or police, etc) discovers that the buyer is in possession of the object?

^^^

The guy that bought it in good faith from the Pawn Shop looses it.

Good luck with restitution from the pawn shop.

You would not be charged with possession of stolen goods if your story holds up.

Three Valves wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 8:25 am ^^^

The guy that bought it in good faith from the Pawn Shop looses it.

Good luck with restitution from the pawn shop.

You would not be charged with possession of stolen goods if your story holds up.

Wait, so the pawn shop keeps the money? Could you sue the pawn shop?

Sure. Good luck with that!

But let's be fair. They were victimized by the fence as well.

The two of you should seek restitution form the drugged out "student." Maybe he got a job at a methadone clinic.

GLWT.

I just did some reading up on this. Restitution of stolen goods from pawn shops is governed by state law which varies from state-to-state. However, in all states it seems to be a general principle that the owner of stolen goods remains the owner regardless of how or how often the stolen item is transferred. A good faith transaction can never transfer ownership of stolen goods because the seller never had the right to sell.

However, due to political pressure from pawn shop lobbies in certain states, it can be difficult to get back either the stolen item or other equivalent payment. That's because thieves came up with the idea that they could have the stolen item pawned for them, and then later claim that they are the rightful owner and demand return of item - in effect stealing it twice. None of this changes who the rightful owner is, but it makes for a complicated court procedure that results in a time-consuming and difficult process to get back stolen goods.

Hup

Here's an interesting article in today's NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/worl ... 6800cc9204

Museum of the Bible (funded by Hobby Lobby) has agreed to return a tablet looted from an archeological site in Iraq. It bought the tablet at auction for $1.6 million and will sue Christie's auction house for fraudulent sale.

It will be interesting to see if Christie's tries to recoup its loss by suing whoever sold the tablet to them.

Hup

The fanciest tablets I can afford are probiotics.

.