If you steal a car on Purge night, do you have to give it back? You can't be charged with the theft, but what about possession of stolen property?
shareYou don't get to keep it. S2ep1 shows that if you are still occupying the private property at ending siren, you can be charged with a crime, so you would need to exit the vehicle by last siren.
shareNo, thats not quite what it shows....if he had been completely out of the bank, he would have been able to keep the stolen money....so it seems possession of moveable property is retained by the thief as long as the theft is complete.
shareMoney is not property in the same sense as a car, building, or land. A car is private property, you get a title and pay taxes on it. Transferring ownership is a legal process, not just a matter of possession.
shareThat’s not really true....moveable property is moveable property...in a legal sense you have the same title to money you hold in the bank as a car.
In many states if someone stole your car or stole a similar quantity of money out of your garage....the same statute would be used to prosecute the case.
The owner of a car is the owner on the title not the person who possesses it, otherwise every time I park my car on private property I would risk losing ownership. If possession were ownership, banks couldn't legally repossess a vehicle. If you park your car on the street and go into a store, the car is still yours when you come out. If you leave $1000 on the side walk and go into a store, the money belongs to whoever picks it up.
shareAgain, thats not entirely true...you own the money that is rightfully yours. While it may be more difficult to prosecute , if you misplace 1000 dollars on the side walk, someone that just takes it can be prosecuted for theft. If you receive money through legal means you have "title" to that money that is legally protected. Most laws do not treat money and other moveable property such as cars differently under their theft statutes. I can post an example from my jurisdiction where i prosecute theft every week.
Now, I admitted it is a good question that takes some thought, but the show has clearly shown that if you complete a theft, the resulting item is yours....now the new "owner" would have to register and pay taxes on the car once the purge is over it seems.
If we are really going to go down this rabbit hole...since you are fixated on the transfer of legal title (which is just a piece of paper signed by both parties), and ALL crimes are legal, would you feel differently if the car thief forged the sellers signature on the title assignation form during the purge. Since forgery was legal, that would presumably be a valid document.
The law is fixated on transfer of title, I'm just extrapolating from the reality of everyday life.
Interesting point about forgery, which opens a legal quagmire which I'm sure was never considered by writers who really have only began to explore ideas beyond violence.
What if you set a trap on Purge night but it doesn't get sprung until days later and it kills someone. Would you be arrested?
shareSetting a trap and killing someone should be separate crimes. The trap would likely fall under something like menacing, public endangerment, or reckless endangerment; of that you would be free and clear. The resulting death after the siren would IMO be a separate charge and you could be arrested. It's all hypothetical of course, and tv writers are often dumb as bricks so who knows how it might go on the show.
shareIt’s like having a ticket to a concert, when it’s over, you need to vacate or be charged with trespassing.
share