APCO Law Practice Exam

For a conviction of theft, the essential elements that need to be proven are: the intent to commit the act, the actual taking of property, and doing so without the consent of the owner. The concept of intent signifies that the person must have a purposeful objective to take someone else’s property, demonstrating that it is not merely accidental.

The act of taking property involves physically moving or exercising control over someone else's property. Furthermore, this act must occur without the consent of the property owner, as taking property with the owner's permission does not fulfill the criteria for theft.

This combination of intent, taking, and absence of consent establishes the foundational legal principles governing theft, making the correct answer aligned with these necessary components for a theft conviction. In contrast, the other options introduce elements that do not correlate with the legal definition of theft or mischaracterize the necessary components for a conviction.