Booth v. State

Charley Stanford stole a coat, then offered to sell it to John Booth (defendant) for $20. Stanford was arrested wearing the coat and agreed to help police catch Booth by keeping the arrest secret and meeting him as planned, with police hidden in the closet. Booth came, was told the coat was stolen, said that was fine, and bought it, then was arrested for receiving stolen property. The trial court acquitted him of receiving stolen property-reasoning that recovered goods are no longer stolen-but convicted him of attempted receipt of stolen property. Booth appealed.

Whether a defendant may be convicted of attempted receipt of stolen goods where the goods had already been recovered by the owner or police before the transaction.