State v. Carswell

After discovering that Room 158 of his motel had been broken into and its air conditioner pried loose from its window mount but not removed, security guard Donald Morgan left the room unlocked and staked it out from a nearby balcony. That night, he watched Rex Carswell (defendant) and another man enter the room, lift the air conditioner off its stand, set it on the floor, and slide it four to six inches toward the door before leaving it and exiting the room; Morgan stopped them and called police. The State of North Carolina (plaintiff) convicted Carswell of breaking and entering and larceny, but the court of appeals reversed the larceny conviction, concluding the limited movement of the air conditioner wasn't enough of a taking and carrying away, and the state supreme court took up the reversal.