Can I Be Charged With Theft If I Was Allowed to Have The Property?

Criminal defense attorneys in Baltimore Attorney Eric T. Kirk MD know that stealing is taking of something from another, with the intent to deprive that person of the ownership of that item.

We have seen that an accused thief may raise the defense that they, in fact, were entitled to possession of that item. There is an old adage that if they have to have a rule against something, then someone, somewhere has attempted to engage in the prohibited conduct. Maryland law, as interpreted by the courts, provides that it is not a defense for the accused thief to contend they are not a thief because the person they stole from, had, in turn, stolen the item from another. So long as the State can demonstrate that the property was that of another, who did not give permission, a sufficiently adverse ownership interest is shown to sustain a conviction.