Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

a burglar (now convicted) stole my wedding ring. he sold it to a store (store A). store A sold it to store B. store B said they sold it to store C who then sold it to an end customer.. store B says that they are not telling us who store C is because they are not obligated to tell the police or us after 35 days... california law stipulates that brokers/pawn shops/jewelry stores, etc can sell goods they bought after 35 days.. BUT MY QUESTION is: stolen goods are still stolen goods.. yes, it is legal to sell it after 35 days so the stores didn't do anything wrong BUT is it true that after 35 days they no longer need to tell us where it was sold so that i can successfully track down my wedding ring? thank you!


Asked on 10/27/09, 9:33 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Talk to the police, who will then have a talk with the people at Store B. I suspect the store will become much more cooperative once that has happened.

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Answered on 11/01/09, 7:55 pm
Scott Linden Scott H. Linden, Esq.

I agree, the police will have an easier tme getting the information than you will. I do find it interesting that you were able to track down stores A and B. How did you accomplish this? Was the thief arrested? Have you considered the liability of the first store for receiving stolen property? Same for the second.

Discuss this with the police and they may add this to their discussion with the store owners. Sounds like it was a conspiracy of all three stores to hide the stolen item until the 35 days passed. This would also be an interesting approach for an officer to try.

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Answered on 11/02/09, 2:44 pm


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