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COPYRIGHT 2008 Dolan Media Company
Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff
Criminal Larceny by check - Antecedent debt Where a defendant has been convicted of larceny by check, the conviction must be reduced one on the lesser included charge of attempted larceny. In December, 2004, the defendant's company was approximately $35,000 in arrears on its rent. During that month, the defendant delivered two checks totaling $8,000 to the landlord, ostensibly toward the arrearage. The checks were drawn on a closed account with a bank that no longer existed, facts the landlord discovered before attempting to negotiate the checks. The defendant was tried and convicted on a charge of larceny by check. ... On appeal, the defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction as matter of law, arguing that a conviction on that charge may not rest on checks tendered in satisfaction of an antecedent debt. We agree, and reduce the defendant's conviction to the lesser included charge of attempted larceny. ... [W]e agree with the defendant that he obtained nothing in fact in...
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