Failure to Prove Defendant Did Not Have a Good Faith Belief He Had a Claim of Right to Property Precluded Larceny Conviction

The Fourth Department determined there was insufficient evidence to support a grand larceny charge based upon the defendant’s taking a jeep from his girlfriend’s residence.  Prior to defendant’s taking the jeep, his girlfriend had agreed to transfer it to him—an offer she subsequently told defendant was “off:” The Fourth Department held the People had not proven the defendant did not have a good faith belief that he had a claim of right to the jeep:

It is well established that “a good faith claim of right is properly a defense—not an affirmative defense—and thus, ‘the people have the burden of disproving such defense beyond a reasonable doubt’ ” … .A defendant is not required to “establish that he previously owned or possessed the property at issue in order to assert the claim of right defense” …. The test is whether a defendant had a “subjective[,] good faith” belief that he or she had a claim of right to the relevant property, not whether defendant’s belief was reasonable … . Based on the testimony of defendant’s former girlfriend, which is the only evidence that relates to the claim of right issue, we conclude that it was unreasonable for the jury to conclude that the People established beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant did not have a subjective, good faith basis for believing that the Jeep was his, and thus the verdict with respect to the grand larceny in the fourth degree count is against the weight of the evidence ….  People v Rios, 223, 4th Dept, 6-7-13