Ala. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) 13A-8-10.6_CARGOTHEFTVALUENOTEXCEED500

10.6 CARGO THEFT

(Value Not Exceed $500)

The defendant is charged with cargo theft.

A person commits the crime of cargo theft if, he/she knowingly obtains

or exerts unauthorized control over the following:

[Read as appropriate]

(1) A vehicle engaged in commercial transportation of cargo or an

appurtenance thereto, including, without limitation, a trailer,

semitrailer, container, railcar, or other associated equipment, or

the cargo being transported therein or thereon, which is the

property of another, with the intention of depriving the other

person of the property, regardless of the manner in which the

property is taken or appropriated; (OR)

(2) A trailer, semitrailer, container, railcar, or other associated

equipment, or the cargo being transported therein or thereon,

which is the property of another, with the intention of depriving

the other person of the property, regardless of the manner in

which the property is taken or appropriated;

and the collective value is $500 or less.

To convict, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the

following elements of cargo theft:

(1) The defendant obtained or exerted unauthorized control over the

following:

[Read as appropriate]

(a) A vehicle engaged in commercial transportation of cargo or an

appurtenance thereto, including, without limitation, a trailer,

semitrailer, container, railcar, or other associated equipment, or the

cargo being transported therein or thereon, which is the property of

another, [Insert owner’s name], with the intention of depriving the

other person of the property, regardless of the manner in which the

property is taken or appropriated, [Insert description];

(OR)

(b) A trailer, semitrailer, container, railcar, or other associated

equipment, or the cargo being transported therein or thereon, which is

the property of another, [Insert owner’s name], with the intention of

depriving the other person of the property, regardless of the manner in

which the property is taken or appropriated, [Insert description];

(2) The collective value was $500 or less; (AND)

(3) The defendant did so knowingly.

The term obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property includes,

but is not necessarily limited to, the taking, carrying away, or the sale,

conveyance, or transfer of title to or interest in, or possession of, property. [13A-

8-1(8)]

[Read as appropriate] The term includes, but is not necessarily

limited to, conduct heretofore defined or known as common law larceny by

trespassory taking, common law larceny by trick, larceny by conversion,

embezzlement, extortion, or obtaining property by false pretenses

[13A-8-1(8)]

Obtains means:

a. In relation to property, to bring about a transfer or purported transfer of a

legally recognized interest in the property, whether to the obtainer or another;

(OR)

b. In relation to labor or service, to secure performance thereof.

[13A-8-1(7)]

Property is any money, tangible or intangible personal property,

property (whether real or personal) the location of which can be changed

(including things growing on, affixed to, or found in land and documents,

although the rights represented hereby have no physical location), contract

right, chose-in-action, interest in a claim to wealth, credit, or any other article or

thing of value of any kind. [13A-8-1(11)]

[Read as appropriate] Commodities of a public utility nature, such as

gas, electricity, steam, and water, constitute property, but the supplying of such

a commodity to premises from an outside source by means of wires, pipes,

conduits, or other equipment shall be deemed a rendition of a service rather

than a sale or delivery of property. [13A-8-1(11)]

An owner is a person, other than the defendant, who has possession of

or any other interest in the property involved, even though that interest or

possession is unlawful, and without whose consent the defendant has no

authority to exert control over the property. [13A-8-1(9)]

[Read as appropriate] A secured party, as defined in Section

7-9A-102(a)(72), is not an owner in relation to a defendant who is a debtor,

as defined in Section 7-9A-102(a)(28), in respect of property in which the

secured party has a security interest, as defined in Section 7-1-201(37).

[13A-8-1(9)]

Value is the market value of the property at the time and place of the

criminal act. [13A-8-1(15)]

[Read as appropriate] Whether or not they have been issued or

delivered, certain written instruments, not including those having a readily

ascertainable market value such as some public and corporate bonds and

securities shall be evaluated as follows:

a. The value of an instrument constituting an evidence of debt, such as a

check, draft, or promissory note, shall be deemed the amount due or

collectible thereon or thereby, that figure ordinarily being the face amount of

the indebtedness less any portion thereof which has been satisfied.

b. The value of any other instrument that creates, releases, discharges, or

otherwise affects any valuable legal right, privilege, or obligation shall be

deemed the greatest amount of economic loss which the owner of the

instrument might reasonably suffer by virtue of the loss of the instrument.

When the value of property cannot be ascertained pursuant to the standards

set forth above, its value shall be deemed to be an amount not exceeding five

hundred dollars ($500). [13A-8-1(15)]

[Read as appropriate] Amounts involved in thefts committed pursuant

to one scheme or course of conduct, whether from the same person or several

persons, may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense; provided,

that only one conviction may be had and only one sentence enforced for all

thefts included in such aggregate. [13A-8-1(15)]

Deprive means: [Read as appropriate]

a. To withhold property or cause it to be withheld from a person permanently

or for such period or under such circumstances that all or a portion of its use

or benefit would be lost to him or her;

b. To dispose of the property so as to make it unlikely that the owner would

recover it;

c. To retain the property with intent to restore it to the owner only if the owner

purchases or leases it back, or pays a reward or other compensation for its

return;

d. To sell, give, pledge, or otherwise transfer any interest in the property;

(OR)

e. To subject the property to the claim of a person other than the owner.

[13A-8-1(2)]

A person acts knowingly with respect to conduct or to a circumstance

when he/she is aware that his/her conduct is of that nature or that the

circumstance exists. [13A-2-2(2)]

A person acts with intent to deprive another of his/her property when

he/she acts with the purpose of causing that result. [13A-2-2(1)]

[Read as appropriate] It is a defense to a prosecution for this offense

that the defendant honestly believed that he/she had a claim to the property or

services involved which he/she was entitled to assert in the manner which

forms the basis of the charge against him/her. [13A-8-12(a)]

If you find from the evidence that the State has proved beyond a

reasonable doubt each of the above elements of cargo theft, then you shall find

the defendant guilty of cargo theft.

If you find that the State has failed to prove any one or more of the

elements of the offense of cargo theft, then you cannot find the defendant

guilty of cargo theft.

[If lesser-included offenses are included, the Court should instruct

on those offenses at this point.]