New York Court of Appeals
The People of the State of New York v. Philip Walker Zinke
May 3, 199076 N.Y.2d 8
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals held that a general partner in a limited partnership cannot be convicted of larceny for misappropriating partnership funds because partners are joint owners and the statutory definition of "owner" excludes a joint owner from having a superior right of possession. The Court reversed the Appellate Division's affirmation of the conviction and dismissed the indictment. The decision rests on statutory construction, legislative history, and the longstanding common‑law rule that partners cannot steal from one another.