Commonwealth v. Ryan
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
155 Mass. 523 (1892)
Relevant factsFree
Ryan (defendant), a store employee, took payment from an undercover detective for a purchase, placed the money briefly in the cash register without recording the sale, then removed it minutes later; he was charged with embezzlement, but argued the money had already passed into his employer's possession once placed in the register, making his taking of it larceny (a trespass against the employer's possession) rather than embezzlement.
IssueFree
Whether, if a servant intends to take property given to him by a third person for his master, the fact that the servant placed the property in the master's custody briefly for safekeeping will reduce a conviction for embezzlement to larceny.