| Abstrakt: |
In 1974, the State of North Carolina sued an autograph dealer to recover two colonial public documents signed by William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The court ruled that a public document cannot be relinquished "without authority from the source that required it to be made" and "mere possession is not evidence of ownership." Because no evidence of legal transfer of the Hooper documents from state custody existed, they were awarded to the state. This decision, 'North Carolina' v. 'B. C. West, Jr.' (1977), subsequently helped North Carolina recover another document and may serve as a precedent in other replevin actions. |
