Minn. Stat. § 609.52 Theft

• Library: Minnesota Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through 2023, c. 75
• Year: 2023
• Citation: Minn. Stat. § 609.52

Subdivision 1.Definitions. In this section:

(1) "Property" means all forms of tangible property, whether real or personal, without limitation including documents of value, electricity, gas, water, corpses, domestic animals, dogs, pets, fowl, and heat supplied by pipe or conduit by municipalities or public utility companies and articles, as defined in clause (4), representing trade secrets, which articles shall be deemed for the purposes of Extra Session Laws 1967, chapter 15 to include any trade secret represented by the article.

(2) "Movable property" is property whose physical location can be changed, including without limitation things growing on, affixed to, or found in land.

(3) "Value" means the retail market value at the time of the theft, or if the retail market value cannot be ascertained, the cost of replacement of the property within a reasonable time after the theft, or in the case of a theft or the making of a copy of an article representing a trade secret, where the retail market value or replacement cost cannot be ascertained, any reasonable value representing the damage to the owner which the owner has suffered by reason of losing an advantage over those who do not know of or use the trade secret. For a check, draft, or other order for the payment of money, "value" means the amount of money promised or ordered to be paid under the terms of the check, draft, or other order. For a theft committed within the meaning of subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (5), items (i) and (ii), if the property has been restored to the owner, "value" means the value of the use of the property or the damage which it sustained, whichever is greater, while the owner was deprived of its possession, but not exceeding the value otherwise provided herein. For a theft committed within the meaning of subdivision 2, clause (9), if the property has been restored to the owner, "value" means the rental value of the property, determined at the rental rate contracted by the defendant or, if no rental rate was contracted, the rental rate customarily charged by the owner for use of the property, plus any damage that occurred to the property while the owner was deprived of its possession, but not exceeding the total retail value of the property at the time of rental. For a theft committed within the meaning of subdivision 2, clause (19), "value" means the difference between wages legally required to be reported or paid to an employee and the amount actually reported or paid to the employee.

(4) "Article" means any object, material, device or substance, including any writing, record, recording, drawing, sample specimen, prototype, model, photograph, microorganism, blueprint or map, or any copy of any of the foregoing.

(5) "Representing" means describing, depicting, containing, constituting, reflecting or recording.

(6) "Trade secret" means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that:

(i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and

(ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.

(7) "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph or other reproduction of an article, and any note, drawing, or sketch made of or from an article while in the presence of the article.

(8) "Property of another" includes property in which the actor is co-owner or has a lien, pledge, bailment, or lease or other subordinate interest, property transferred by the actor in circumstances which are known to the actor and which make the transfer fraudulent as defined in this section 513.44, property possessed pursuant to a short-term rental contract, and property of a partnership of which the actor is a member, unless the actor and the victim are husband and wife. It does not include property in which the actor asserts in good faith a claim as a collection fee or commission out of property or funds recovered, or by virtue of a lien, setoff, or counterclaim.

(9) "Services" include but are not limited to labor, professional services, transportation services, electronic computer services, the supplying of hotel accommodations, restaurant services, entertainment services, advertising services, telecommunication services, and the supplying of equipment for use including rental of personal property or equipment.