3.1.211 to 3.1.213

(183) Servius Sulpicius and Masurius Sabinus state that there are four kinds of theft, manifest, non-manifest, the receiving of stolen property, and the delivery of stolen property to another. Labeo says that there are two, namely, manifest and non-manifest theft, for the receiving of stolen goods and their delivery to another rather give ground to actions connected with theft than are different kinds of theft, and this seems to be the more correct opinion, as will appear hereafter. (184) Some authorities hold that manifest theft is "committed when the culprit is taken in the act; others, however, go further and say that it occurs when he is taken in the place where the theft was perpetrated, for instance, where olives are stolen from an olive orchard, or grapes from a vineyard, while the thief is in the olive orchard or the vineyard; or, if the theft was committed in a house, as long as the thief remains therein. Others go still further, and hold that manifest theft is committed until the thief has carried the stolen property to the place where he intends to leave it. Others go even further, and say that theft was committed as long as the thief holds the property. This last view has not been adopted, and the opinion of those who hold that if the thief is taken before he has conveyed the stolen property to the place where he intends to leave it, it is manifest theft, should not be accepted; for the reason that great uncertainty may arise whether the time for his detection should be limited to one day or to several. This doubt arises because thieves often intend to transport stolen property to other cities or into other provinces. Therefore, the first and second opinions have been generally approved, and the greater number of authorities accept the second one.