XML FeedsTHE DISCOVERY RULE
By admin on Mar 14, 2010 | In Law | Send feedback »
Under the discovery rule an original owner's cause of action does not accrue "until the injured party discovers, or by exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence should have discovered, facts which form the basis of a cause of action." (The court cited the O'Keeffe case,36 which is discussed below.) In the stolen-art context such facts include the identity of the possessor of the paintings, and the O'Keeffe case held that where a court finds that an owner has diligently searched for a stolen painting but "cannot find it or discover the identity of the possessor, the statute of limitations will not begin to run."37
The court found that "the discovery rule shifts the emphasis from the conduct of the possessor to the conduct of the owner. The focus of the inquiry will no longer be whether the possessor has met the test of adverse possession but whether the owner has acted with due diligence in pursuing his or her property."38 The burden of proving due diligence rests on the original owner.
