My friend junks for a living. He found something dumped in a common dumping area in our city and sold it to a salvage yard. A while later so...

Question

My friend junks for a living. He found something dumped in a common dumping area in our city and sold it to a salvage yard. A while later some guy went to the salvage yard and claimed the item was his and that it was stolen. He has no proof of ownership whatsoever besides his word but my friend was still arrested and charged. Can my friend be convicted based on this man's dubious claim? Is his arrest even valid at all? He lives in suffolk, va

Answer

Yes, under the facts described, there is likely sufficient probable cause

to support the arrest of this defendant(it doesn't take much), but whether the Commonwealth would be able to prove its case against him beyond reasonable doubt at trial is another matter entirely and may find that it must

dismiss the case for lack of sufficient credible facts (if it hasn't already done so).