Penal Law § 155.15

Larceny; defenses · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 155.15 Larceny; defenses.

1. In any prosecution for larceny committed by trespassory taking or embezzlement, it is an affirmative defense that the property was appropriated under a claim of right made in good faith.

2. In any prosecution for larceny by extortion committed by instilling in the victim a fear that he or another person would be charged with a crime, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant reasonably believed the threatened charge to be true and that his sole purpose was to compel or induce the victim to take reasonable action to make good the wrong which was the subject of such threatened charge.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/155.15

In plain English

(1) For larceny by trespassory taking or embezzlement, it is an affirmative defense that the property was taken under a good-faith claim of right.
(2) For extortion based on threatening a criminal charge, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant reasonably believed the charge was true and acted solely to make the victim reasonably correct that wrong. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.