Section 13A-8-12 Defenses to prosecutions for theft and unauthorized use of vehicle. - Alabama Statutes

Section 13A-8-12

Defenses to prosecutions for theft and unauthorized use of vehicle.

(a) It is a defense to a prosecution under Sections 13A-8-2 through 13A-8-11 (theft of property, theft of lost property, theft of services and unauthorized use of vehicle) that the actor honestly believed that he had a claim to the property or services involved which he was entitled to assert in the manner which forms the basis for the charge against him.

(b) The burden of injecting the issue of claim of right is on the defendant, but this does not shift the burden of proof.

(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §3230; Acts 1979, No. 79-664, p. 1163, §1.)