Young v. Hitchens

1844

Court: Queen's Bench (a major British appellate court)

Facts: Young's boats are enclosing a school of fish, and are in the process of dropping a net into the last remaining opening when Hichens zooms in and catches a bunch of them.

Posture: Appeal after a finding for Young (plaintiff) at initial hearing.

Issue: Were the fish in Young's possession?

Holding: No, they were not.

Rule: You can't have possession of fish until you get actual power over them.

Reasoning: He would have caught them, but that doesn't count. Only actually catching counts, and that's what Hichens did.

Dicta: