Pollard v. Commonwealth

Indicted for larceny of an air hammer, defendant John Wesley Pollard was convicted in a bench trial of receiving stolen property. The sole issue we decide is whether the Commonwealth proved that the offense was committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the court below.

The evidence showed that on May 19, 1978, defendant was under surveillance by several Virginia State Police officers in connection with an investigation into the suspected theft of air hammers, or paving breakers, belonging to the City of Richmond. The investigators watched defendant, then employed by the City’s…