Charged with Stealing an Item I Bought Through Craigslist

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia

I had bought a tennis bag off of Craigslist on January 16th, and sold it on Ebay on the 17th. The bag turned out to be stolen, and was contacted by a detective to come in and speak with him. Before I even went to meet him, they came and arrested me at my house. The woman whose car it was stolen from apparently also had her window broken. They are charging me with grand larceny and for the broken window. I have a lawyer who asked the detective to subpoena Craigslist to try and find the ad, and a month has passed and the detective still hasn't found anything. My preliminary court date is next week, and the only evidence they have is that I was in possession of the tennis bag. They have no fingerprints or camera footage linking me to the break in. What happens if the detective doesn't find the ad? I've given him all the information I could find, and I found the ad while at the library, and called from the library phone because my phone was dead. I have priors for misdemeanors for stealing from Target over three years ago, and I imagine they will use this against me in court. The detective has told me I am facing jail time if they can't find the ad. I've posted in online forums trying to find out if there was a possible way that the person who sold it to me might have been able to permanently delete the ad, but so far, no responses. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Absolutely, you can delete ads from Craigslist. Here, for instance, is the bookmark for a car my son was interested in - when it was sold, the seller deleted the ad. This is so once an item is sold, the person who placed the ad doesn't drown in further inquiries.

Have your lawyer tell the police officer about Harmari search, which police officers can use to search older craigslist ads. Talk to your lawyer about issuing a subpoena to craigslist for the ad.

Quote:

---

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

---

Have your lawyer tell the police officer about Harmari search, which police officers can use to search older craigslist ads. Talk to your lawyer about issuing a subpoena to craigslist for the ad.

---

I have looked all over the place for the ad, including the website you provided. I've even asked on forums that talk about illegal activities involving Craigslist, trying to find out if there's any possible way that they can delete the ads, but so far no response. Is there anyway that they can pin me for breaking the window without fingerprints or witnesses? I would like to settle out of court and provide restitution for the woman whose bag was stolen, because I feel terrible that it was stolen from her. If I was contacted before they sold on Ebay, I would've been more than glad to return the items to her.

You aren't eligible to register with Harmari, so you did not use Harmari search.

If your story is now that the police searched Hamari search and a subpoena has been issued to craigslist, but nobody on the planet but you makes any claim that the ad ever existed, you sound guilty.

Yes, obviously, when you have motive, opportunity, are caught selling the items stolen in a burglary, your story about how you acquired the stolen item is inconsistent with craigslist records, and you have no alibi, there's a decent prima facie case that you're the burglar. Add to that your inability to document that you contacted any person from craigslist, your inability to give a name for the person, your inability to provide a meaningful description of the person, your inability to document that you paid money to the person, etc., and it sounds like your craiglist story is simply something you made up to try to insulate you from the burglary charge.

How did we get from "a tennis bag" (singular) to "items" (plural)?

Quote:

---

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

---

You aren't eligible to register with Harmari, so you did not use Harmari search.

If your story is now that the police searched Hamari search and a subpoena has been issued to craigslist, but nobody on the planet but you makes any claim that the ad ever existed, you sound guilty.

Yes, obviously, when you have motive, opportunity, are caught selling the items stolen in a burglary, your story about how you acquired the stolen item is inconsistent with craigslist records, and you have no alibi, there's a decent prima facie case that you're the burglar. Add to that your inability to document that you contacted any person from craigslist, your inability to give a name for the person, your inability to provide a meaningful description of the person, your inability to document that you paid money to the person, etc., and it sounds like your craiglist story is simply something you made up to try to insulate you from the burglary charge.

How did we get from "a tennis bag" (singular) to "items" (plural)?

---

I provided the detective with the name of the person, what type of car he drove, where we met and how much the ad was listed for. I have an alibi, because I was at home with my parents the night of the robbery. I had also called my mom and sister and told them about the great deal I got on the tennis bag and then showed it to them. The items was a mistake. It was only an item.