FORT WORTH (AP) - A North Texas man has been convicted of theft and burglary after he tried to claim squatter’s rights on a house using an obscure state law.

A Tarrant County jury could sentence David Cooper to up to life imprisonment. Wife Jasmine Cooper was acquitted of burglary.

David Cooper said he was relying on a law allowing what’s known as “adverse possession” he studied at a law library. He filed a claim for $16 on a $400,000 Arlington home and moved in, but didn’t know he was breaking the law, that he

The family that owned the home was away because one member was being treated for cancer. Area county clerks say the law is being misused and have stopped accepting claims. Cooper was arrested a year ago.

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