Can a defendant be held to answer for possession of stolen property?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Williams v. Superior Court, 71 Cal.2d 1144, 80 Cal.Rptr. 747 (Cal. 1969):
The answer must be no; the mere fact of possession of recently stolen property does Not provide the basis for a reasonable inference either that the possessor was the one who stole the property or that the possessor knew that it had been stolen, and thus cannot be sufficient to support a conviction (e.g., People v. Wissenfeld, Supra, 36 Cal.2d 758, 763, 227 P.2d 833) Or to hold a defendant to answer.
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