Question

Dechert's camera fails to focus properly so he takes the camera to a camera store that sells new and used cameras and also repairs them. When Dechert returns to the store a week later to pick up the camera it is not found. It turns out after the camera was fixed a dishonest employee sold it to a customer who came in to buy a used camera. If Dechert finds out the name of the customer who bought the camera can he recover it from the customer?

Answer 1

Answer: No.

Explanation:

From the question, we are informed that Dechert's camera fails to focus properly, therefore he takes the camera to a camera store that sells new and used cameras and also repairs them. He later returns to the store to pick up the camera it is not found and he later found out that after the camera was fixed, a dishonest employee sold it to a customer who came in to buy a used camera.

Even if Dechert finds out the name of the customer who bought the camera, he cannot recover it from the customer because this is an exception to the rule of law whereby it is stated that a legal title cannot be transferred to a property by a thief. Because the store sold both used and new cameras, the store has the power to give out Dechert's title to someone who purchases in an ordinary course of the said business.