Q: Charged with unauthorized use after buying a stolen truck with bill of sale.

A: IMO the testimony of your mom's friend will be critical. Your attorney will want to ensure that the friend does not have a criminal record and will corroborate that he was the seller, or facilitated the sale by the seller and had no reason to believe that seller was not the owner of the vehicle. You will want to present clear evidence of the circumstances surrounding the sale to you such as any advertisement of the vehicle for sale, text messages, or other communications.

The timing of the wreck vis-a-vis your purchase will also be critical. Your story is very plausible if the wreck occurred within a few days of the sale before you could register your title. The more time between the purchase and wreck, the less plausible. At 30 days or so you reach the point of implausibility because no reasonable person would be driving a newly purchased vehicle that long without registering it.

Another key piece of evidence will be whether you got insurance on the vehicle. An existing policy will cover a newly purchased vehicle for 30 days. If the wreck happened within those 30 days, you have a plausible case that you were just slow in adding the new vehicle to your insurance. If you didn't have any insurance when you bought the vehicle, it would be reasonable to expect you to get insurance within a week or so .

Collateral evidence like parking passes for your work or apartment complex, getting a new tolltag, etc., if applicable, could also corroborate your story making it more plausible.

If the wreck occurred two months or more after the purchase, you did not insure the vehicle, did not get parking passes or tolltags, etc., and especially if your mom's friend is not credible or does not corroborate your story, I think you'll have a tough time convincing a judge or jury you were unaware the truck was stolen.

A: You’re in a tough situation, but having a bill of sale and no knowledge that the truck was stolen may work in your favor. In most unauthorized use cases, the key question is whether you *knew* or *should have known* that you didn’t have permission to use the vehicle. If you can show that you genuinely believed you were buying the truck legally and had no intent to commit a crime, that can be a strong defense.

The fact that you didn’t receive a title may raise concerns, but it’s not uncommon in informal or rushed vehicle sales. Your bill of sale, combined with your testimony about how the truck was offered to you and any messages or witnesses involved in the sale, will be important. If you can show you acted in good faith and cooperated fully once you learned about the truck’s status, that helps demonstrate your intentions were honest.

Ultimately, your odds will depend on the details—especially what the prosecution can prove about your knowledge or intent. You’re not alone in this, and your efforts to be transparent and provide evidence will matter. Stay calm, gather all documentation, and make sure your story is consistent and truthful. Mistakes can happen, but that doesn’t mean you should be treated like a criminal if you never meant to break the law.