[meteorite-list] Stolen Meteorites

From: Francis Graham <francisgraham_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:46:23 2004
Message-ID: <20010512005729.92371.qmail_at_web12903.mail.yahoo.com>

Dear List,
  A few years ago a Pittsburgh resident I knew had his
large CD music collection stolen. It ended up in a
used goods store. But, he was not legally allowed to
get them back, because the dealer had bought them in
"good faith" from the person who stole them. (The
actual thief was arrested and convicted). The CDs
however remained the property of the store.
  At the Carnegie Library in Braddock, a large and
unique statue of Mercury was stolen. It ended up in
the store of an antique dealer in nearby Madison, PA.
The same legal argument held, although the dealer was
persuaded by the publicity to return the statue (at
his perogative)(and also he wished to avoid further
police work).
  Suppose we change this law. Suppose it were
incumbent on the purchaser to go beyond good faith,
but to make a strenuous investigation of the title.
Failure to do that would mean that the stolen object
goes back to its original owner, no matter how long it
has been away. Is this a good idea or a bad idea?
Would this reduce the trade in stolen meteorites or
not? I can't decide.

Francis Graham
   


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Received on Fri 11 May 2001 08:57:29 PM PDT