Popov v. Hayashi Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, 2002. Facts: Babe Ruth set the Major League Baseball home run record in 1927 with 60 home runs in a season. Roger Maris broke that record in 1961, hitting 61 home runs. Mark McGwire topped Maris in 1998 with 70 home runs. In 2001, Barry Bonds broke McGwire's record. Toward the end of the 2001 season, Barry Bonds was expected to break his own record, and fans began to congregate in the areas where he was most likely to hit a home run. On October 7, 2001, Bonds hit his 73rd home run. In the stands that day were Alex Popov (plaintiff) and Patrick Hayashi (defendant). As the ball reached the stands, Popov was able to make contact with the ball through his glove. As the ball entered the glove, Popov was attacked by those surrounding him, dislodging the ball. Hayashi was not involved in this attack. The ball then rolled to Hayashi, who placed it in his pocket until he was escorted by security to a secure area in the stadium. Popov brought a suit against Hayashi for ownership of the ball. Issue: Does a person have a property interest in a chattel if they take significant steps toward possession, but are ultimately stopped from acquiring total possession by the unlawful actions of another? Holding: Yes, a person has a qualified, pre-possessory interest in an item if they take significant steps to acquire possession, but are stopped by the unlawful acts of another person. That prepossessory interest is weighed against the lawful possessory interests of other parties. Reasoning: Popov and Hayashi both have an equal, undivided interest in the ball, because Popov acquired pre-possessory rights when he was attacked while catching said ball. While it is true that the exact definition of possession varies from by industry, the rule here is that a person acquires a possessory interest in the baseball by stopping its trajectory and maintaining control notwithstanding any incidental contact with other people or objects. However, when a person completes a significant portion of the steps to achieve possession of an item, but is thwarted due to the unlawful conduct of another, that person is entitled to a pre-possessory interest of the item. In this case, Popov had exerted some control over the ball, but had not yet acquired possession. It is unknown if he would have acquired possession, because he was attacked by the fans seated around him. It would be inappropriate to create an incentive for such attacks to take place. Furthermore, it would be unfair to Popov to assume he would have dropped the ball. It would also be unfair to Hayashi to assume that Popov would have controlled the ball since the facts do not establish this. Thus, in this situation, Popov is deemed to have acquired a pre-possessory interest in the ball. Because Hayashi was not involved with the mob that attacked Popov, both Popov and Hayashi have an equal, undivided interest in the ball.