No, he didn't. I was influenced in the matter of the forklifts by the overwhelming evidence that he was running a chop shop and possessed a stolen vehicle (which he was chopping), and we did convict on those counts; I figured that since he had definitely recieved one form of stolen property, and was running an illegal stolen car business, the odds that he would have not only innocently had stolen property abandoned on his lot, but also not know that it was stolen, were low. Personally, I think the lifts were on his property because he either personally stole them or had his associates steal them.
But there was definitely much less evidence linking him to the lifts than there was linking him to the car. For instance, he had been seen and recorded doing various things to the car, but no one testified that they had ever seen him doing anything with the lifts, so he theoretically could have not even known that they were there, though that's like me theoretically not knowing that I have a sofa in my living room.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-02-28 05:39 pm (UTC)But there was definitely much less evidence linking him to the lifts than there was linking him to the car. For instance, he had been seen and recorded doing various things to the car, but no one testified that they had ever seen him doing anything with the lifts, so he theoretically could have not even known that they were there, though that's like me theoretically not knowing that I have a sofa in my living room.