Legal Definitions - cepit et abduxit

Cepit et Abduxit

This is a historical Latin legal phrase that translates to "he took and led away." In older common law, this specific declaration was used in legal documents, such as indictments for larceny (theft) or writs of trespass, to describe the unlawful act of physically seizing an item of property and removing it from the owner's possession or original location.

Here are some examples illustrating how this term would apply:

• Imagine a situation in the 17th century where a person unlawfully entered a farmer's field, unhitched a plow horse, and then rode the horse away from the property. The legal charge would likely include the phrase cepit et abduxit to describe the act.

  • This illustrates the term because the individual took (seized) the horse and then led it away (rode it off the farm), thereby depriving the owner of its possession and moving it from its rightful place.

• Consider a scenario where a valuable chest of tools was unlawfully removed from a carpenter's workshop. A person might have entered the shop, lifted the chest, and carried it down the road to their own dwelling.

  • Here, the individual took (picked up) the chest of tools and led it away (transported it from the workshop to another location). This act of seizing and removing the property fits the historical application of cepit et abduxit in a larceny indictment.

• In a historical context, if someone unlawfully removed a valuable ornamental garden statue from a private estate and transported it to be sold in a distant market town.

  • The person took (removed) the statue from its place in the garden and led it away (transported it off the estate to another town). This action of physically seizing an item and moving it from its original location to another clearly demonstrates the meaning of cepit et abduxit.