Commonwealth v. Black, C., Aplt.

Summary

The Court held that Black's prosecutions for theft by deception and receiving stolen property were barred by the statute of limitations. Theft by deception is not a continuing offense because the statute does not plainly indicate a legislative purpose to prohibit continuing conduct; receiving stolen property is continuing while the defendant retains the stolen property, but the evidence did not show that Black retained the SSA funds within five years before charges were filed. Justices Brobson, Wecht, and Mundy concurred or dissented in part, principally disputing the treatment of converted property and whether receiving stolen property is continuing, and Justice Mundy would have sustained the theft-by-deception conviction.