Dickens v. Debolt
Oregon Supreme Court
602 P.2d 246 (1979)
State trooper Debolt (defendant) mistakenly seized Dickens's (plaintiff's) legally caught sturgeon as evidence while arresting nearby anglers for illegal fishing, then skinned, fileted, and apparently ate much of it before Dickens could reclaim it, leaving only an eight-pound frozen remnant of what had been a 40-to-45-pound fish; a jury found Debolt liable for conversion, but the court of appeals reversed on the theory Debolt had absolute immunity acting as a state trooper.
Whether conversion is an intentional exercise of dominion or control over a chattel that so seriously interferes with the right of the plaintiff to control it that the defendant may justly be required to compensate the plaintiff for the chattel's full value.