Welch v. Kosasky

After silver antiques stolen from the Welches (plaintiffs) passed through a pawn shop to Kosasky (defendant), who bought some pieces and, on a dealer's advice, had one set of castors altered before the Welches eventually tracked down and recovered all of their silver eight years later; expert testimony valued the unaltered castors at $25,000 but the altered castors at only $3,000. The trial court, finding Kosasky knew or should have known the goods were stolen, awarded damages for loss of use, for the castors' diminished value, and for recovery costs; Kosasky appealed.