Baker

This case concerns application of a 1983 amendment to Code of Civil Procedure section 338, subdivision (c) which added a delayed accrual provision to the statute of limitations for stolen art works. Due to the timing of the transfers of ownership of the object in issue, the prior three-year statute had not expired at the time of the 1983 amendment. We therefore conclude that the amended statute applies in the instant case and reverse.

Background

In the early 1960’s, Christian deGuigne’s father purchased a gold quartz cane handle from Berry-Hill Galleries. The cane handle was inscribed on the top with the words: “[t]o Joseph Lee of New York from B. Tallman of California.” The knob of the handle was hinged and engraved inside was a view of Sutter’s Mill and the words “Sutter’s Mill” and “Coloma,” the scene of the first California gold strike in 1849. In 1962, deGuigne’s father donated the cane handle to the Society of California Pioneers (the Society). Between 1962 and 1978, the Society owned the cane handle and, apart from a loan to Yale University, did not consent to any loans or conveyances of the item.

In 1978, Roger Jobson, executive director of the Society, placed…