The People v. Green CA2/1

BACKGROUND

An audio-visual rental firm had shipped a Canon photographic lens, valued at about $16,000, from its office in Atlanta, Georgia to its office in Glendale, California. The lens and the case in which it had been shipped was missing from the Delta Airlines cargo shipment, and was reported stolen in September 2011. In January 2012, George Feucht, a professional director of photography who had been searching on eBay for a broadcast-quality photographic lens, contacted the seller of the Canon lens involved in this case, using the eBay message system’s identification for the seller, “SGRE9919.” After corresponding with the seller at some length through the eBay message system, Feucht arranged to purchase the lens for a little more than $9,000, paying through PayPal. The seller offered a full refund within three days if Feucht found anything wrong with the lens. Feucht arranged with the seller to take delivery of the lens at a local Starbuck’s coffee shop near the USC campus, from someone identified as the seller’s intern. Feucht met a man at the appointed spot, and received the lens. After Feucht had an opportunity to test the lens on a camera, he found that it had some…