Statutes regarding criminal felony theft

[David DaBoll]

Jurisdiction

Virginia

The basis of the case is a stolen firearm. Stolen in 2010 in Michigan, transported to Illinois for sale and hidden until it was sold to a collector in Virginia in 2014. I did not find the firearm until 2018. We went to Civil trial in Virginia and were told that the statute of limitations had expired after 5 years and the gun now belongs to the man in Virginia on a technicality. By the way the original thief was never charged even though she admitted under oath in court that she and her son stole the firearm. That is probably another case!

 

[justblue]

The basis of the case is a stolen firearm. Stolen in 2010 in Michigan, transported to Illinois for sale and hidden until it was sold to a collector in Virginia in 2014. I did not find the firearm until 2018. We went to Civil trial in Virginia and were told that the statute of limitations had expired after 5 years and the gun now belongs to the man in Virginia on a technicality. By the way the original thief was never charged even though she admitted under oath in court that she and her son stole the firearm. That is probably another case! If you wish to read the case in it's entirety with court docs and police reports, go to

Did you have a question or did you just want to post a link to the case??

 

[David DaBoll]

Wow, tough crowd. Yeah, my question is about the statue of limitations, can there be any variables applied? Such as discovery?

 

[adjusterjack]

There's no way to answer your question without some clarification.

Your title says criminal felony yet the body of your post refers to a civil trial.

Start by explaining who sued who for what when. Use exact dates.

 

[mightymoose]

Just curious... If it was reported stolen in 2010 how was it legally purchased in 2014?
Is this some antique item with no serial numbers? If so, how could you prove the one you found is the one you lost?

 

[Tax Counsel]

We went to Civil trial in Virginia and were told that the statute of limitations had expired after 5 years and the gun now belongs to the man in Virginia on a technicality.

I assume you sued the Virginia resident to recover possession of the gun. I also assume that it was the court that said the statute of limitations had run and dismissed the case. If those two assumptions are correct, then your only remedy to recover possession at this point is to appeal the trial court's ruling on the SOL if you have a good argument to make that the trial judge got it wrong. You only have a limited time to appeal. If that time period has passed then this case is over.

 

[flyingron]

Alas, for most things in Virginia, the cause of action that starts the SOL ticking is when the injury occurs NOT when it is discovered. There are only a few cases where it starts with the discovery of the injury. You had two years.