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THE CONCLUSORY STATEMENTS BY THE OWNER OF THE STOLEN CAR AND AN INVESTIGATING OFFICER FAILED TO DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF THE CAR WAS GREATER THAN $3000; CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY THIRD DEGREE CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing the possession-of-stolen-property-third-degree conviction, determined the value of the stolen property, a vehicle, was not proven:

Here, in addition to photographs of the vehicle admitted in evidence, the victim testified that he purchased the subject 2010 Toyota Prius as a new vehicle for approximately $20,000, that he drove it 240,000 miles over the course of the subsequent 12 years, and that it was in a “[h]eavily used,” albeit running, condition when it was stolen. Although the victim testified that he had previously consulted the “blue book” when considering whether to sell the vehicle, he ultimately provided, based on the condition of the vehicle and unspecified research, only vague testimony that his “guess” or “approximate estimation” was that the vehicle was valued at $4,000, which constituted a “[c]onclusory statement[ or] rough estimate[ ] of value [that is] not sufficient to establish the value of the property” at the time of its theft … . Moreover, although a police officer testified that he estimated that the vehicle was valued between $6,000 and $10,000 based on his observations of the vehicle and consultation with the “blue book,” that testimony was also conclusory. Indeed, there was no evidence that the officer had accurately ascertained the “blue book” value—which inexplicably varied significantly from the victim’s estimate—by appropriately accounting for the age, mileage, and condition of the vehicle … . Based on the evidence of value in the record, we cannot conclude ” ‘that the jury ha[d] a reasonable basis for inferring, rather than speculating, that the value of the property exceeded the statutory threshold’ of $3,000″ … . Consequently, we conclude on this record that the evidence is legally insufficient to establish that the value of the stolen vehicle was greater than $3,000 … . People v Szurgot, 2025 NY Slip Op 03906, Fourth Dept 6-27-25

Practice Point: Here the conclusory statements by the owner of the stolen car and the investigating officer estimating the value of the car constituted legally insufficient evidence that the value of the stolen property was greater than $3000.

 

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