"In civil law consider Law.com?s definition of ?possession?. It has
very little to do with OWNERSHIP at all:
The phrase ?possession is nine-tenths of the law? does not imply that
any person who holds any property is the rightful owner. To the
contrary?what it does imply is that any person who is in possession of
his RIGHTFULLY OWNED PROPERTY is the sole controller of that property
and may do whatsoever he wishes without regard to what any one else
wishes."
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=496059
