Darwish Law – (Theft Crimes) Grand Theft
Grand theft is codified under section 487 of the California Penal Code. The statute defines grand theft as a deliberate and illegal takeover of property without the owner’s permission. For grand theft to occur, the offender must have an intention to deprive the property owner of the property permanently. The crime is deemed to be a more severe offense since the stolen property is of great value. The offender faces punishment, including prison, fines, restitution, and a permanent criminal record. If you are faced with grand theft charges, you need to speak to Darwish Law, whose legal team consists of experienced criminal defense lawyers. The crime is highly dependent on the evidence the prosecution brought against you. The attorney will assess the case taking into account the statute, the facts, and familiarity with the local criminal justice system to get the best outcome possible.
Legal Definition Of Grand Theft
California law states that grand theft is the unlawful stealing of property of goods worth $950 or higher. The charge for this crime is a wobbler. Meaning the perpetrator might well be charged with a felony or misdemeanor depending on the specific circumstances of the case and criminal history of the defendant.
Grand theft covers a wide range of property. Examples of actions that can lead to grand theft charges include the following:
l Money, property, or labor with a value of over $950
l Property taken from another person, regardless of its value, if it is a car, horse or a farm animal or firearms
l Farm products or marine products drawn from the research facilities
l Agricultural products such as fowl and crops
l Work, property or cash was taken from a direct employer by an employee over 12 months with an aggregate value of more than $950
Forms Of Grand Theft
There are various ways in which grand theft crime can be committed. The elements of crime depend on the kind of grand theft that is being charged. Below are different forms of grand theft:
Theft by larceny
Grand theft by larceny can happen without the owner’s knowledge or when the owner entrusts property to you for an ongoing or temporary purpose, but you failed to return the property. Instances where grand larceny can occur include:
l Possessing someone else property
l You didn’t have the owner’s consent to take the property
l Upon taking the property, you intended to possess it for good or for an extended period
l You physically moved the property and kept it
Theft by false pretense
Grand theft by false pretenses is defined in Section 532 PC, where the offender defrauds another money or property using false promises or representations. The defendant pretends by convincing someone to voluntarily give you their property by making false statements or making promises that won’t be fulfilled.
False pretenses also involve the actual transfer of ownership. Whereby the lie is the primary factor that led to the transfer of ownership, imagine a person having financial constraints, and his house is up for auction. He decides to sell his house before he is thrown out. Another person decides to buy the house at a full price. Once the seller signs the over a title, it is discovered that the house is on credit. In this scenario, the buyer believed the lie from the seller, meaning false pretenses have been committed.
Theft by trick
Grand theft by trick involves an offender obtaining someone else personal property through fraud or deceit. For instance, convince someone that you are an IT expert and that the person should give you their laptop to install the latest software. As soon as you get the laptop, you take it to an electronic shop and sell it. Since you used fraud to obtain the laptop, you can be convicted of theft by trick.
Theft by embezzlement
Grand theft by embezzlement is a white-collar crime that involves a person taking property that has been entrusted to them by someone else. The offense can also be described as employee theft, where an employee unlawfully takes entrusted property.
A person acts fraudulently when he or she takes advantage of another person or causes a loss to that person by breaching a trust, duty, or confidence. If the offender is a public official, he or she is charged with embezzlement of public funds. The crime by a public official under Penal Code 504 is always a felony offense.
The Punishment For Grand Theft
Grand theft is charged as a wobbler under penal code 487. Making it unlawful to take and carry away the property of another person. The penalties vary depending on the form of grand theft you are facing, your case circumstances, and your criminal record.
Penalties For a Wobbler Offense
Most grand theft cases are charged as a wobbler offense, meaning the defendant may face a misdemeanor or a felony. The decision on what charges the accused may face depends on the criminal record of the accused. If the charge is a misdemeanor, the punishment includes a one-year county jail. If the defendant had a prior felony conviction, he or she might be charged with a felony if the stolen goods were worth less than $950.
Additionally, if the defendant is convicted for a felony grand theft, he faces probation and a sentence not more than one year in county jail. In cases where firearms were used, the accused gets 16 months to three years of prison time.
If you’re convicted of grand theft, you’ll have to serve a one-year probation. While serving probation, you are required to strictly follow probation terms that include avoiding criminal activities, not associating with other criminals, and a regular visit to your probation officer.
Penalties For Grand Theft With A Firearm
The accused faces charges with a felony grand theft where a gun was used to inflict fear or force. Regardless of the circumstances, with a firearm, your charges cannot be reduced to a misdemeanor theft charge. The punishment for this crime is from 16 months to 3 years in county prison. Grand theft involving a gun is a severe felony, and the consequences are harsh, unlike other forms of grand theft.
Penalty Enhancements
In addition to the penalties listed above, a harsher punishment is imposed for a felony charge where the stolen property was of high value. The cost of the property involved in the grand theft is determined by putting together all property stolen under one scheme. The penalty enhancements include:
l An additional year served consecutive of your penalty for property worth more than $65,000
l Two years sentence increment if the property in grand theft was more than $200,000
l An addition of four years prison sentence when you steal goods worth $3,200,000
Multiple Grand Theft Charges
You are charged with various instances of this crime if you commit multiple acts of grand thefts against one individual. For multiple grand theft counts that were not targeted to the same person, you will receive separate penalties for each count.
Apart from the jail time, probation, and fines, a conviction for grand theft crime will require you to pay restitution. This is used to compensate the individual who owned the property for the loss. Compensation shall be paid directly to the owner of the property as an addition to the fines penalized during the sentencing.
Legal Defenses Against Grand Theft
It does not necessarily mean that you will get convicted once you are charged with grand theft. The prosecution must prove beyond doubt your intention to commit the crime. We have the knowledge and skills to challenge the evidence against you with a legal team at Darwish Law. We have previously used the following successful legal defenses to grand theft:
Lack of intent: The main element of grand theft crime is intent. If our lawyer can cast doubt that you had specific intent to take someone’s property, you will have an excellent chance to avoid conviction. The crime requires that you unlawfully intended to seize property that does not belong to you. There are numerous circumstances where it may have been done inadvertently. When this happens, the lawyer might use this as an accident defense.
A claim of right: The approach of the belief that you owned property makes the argument to be believed with having an honest and rational conviction that the property you took was yours. We have to prove in this defense that you found in good faith the property was yours even if it turned out wrong.
False allegation: In some grand theft cases, the defendant may be a victim of someone seeking revenge out of jealousy or anger. The lawyer may make an argument your arrest and charges are a result of false accusations. Most people have faced wrong accusations and served sentences innocently. Being arrested for grand theft does not automatically mean you are guilty.
Value of the property: The given value requirement for the property involved in grand theft, should be $950 or more. You can defeat a charge of this crime by establishing the goods stolen were not worth the standard value as per the statute. This defense will defeat a grand theft charge, but it will be reduced to a charge on petit theft.
Consent: Grand theft is only unlawful when the owner did not consent. If the property owner agrees to your takeover or use of the product, you are not guilty of the grand theft offense. However, for this defense to work, you should not go outside the bounds of that consent, like keeping the said property for a more extended period than agreed.
Mistaken identity: In grand theft cases, the court needs to show that the property was taken and that it exceeded $950, and that you were the person responsible for taking the property. That being said, you can be mistakenly identified due to poor lighting, cross-racial-identification, or mental disability of the witness. The lawyer can argue your property resembled the stolen goods, and you were just mistaken identity.
Search and seizure: The lawyer can challenge the physical evidence against you that you were illegally detained in violation of your search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment right. At times the police officers can extend the scope of your permission to search. If the jury concludes that the arresting officers committed unlawful searches, then the charges cannot be used against you in court.
What The Prosecution Must Prove
When facing grand theft charges, you are innocent until proven guilty. The prosecutor has to confirm every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. You will be convicted if the prosecutor proves the following elements in various categories of grand theft:
To prove grand theft by larceny:
l The accused took another person’s property
l The accused took the property without the owner’s consent
l The suspect wanted to seize the property from the owner
l The accused physically moved or kept the property
l The amount of stolen goods exceeded $950
To prove grand theft by false pretense:
l The accused knew and intentionally used deceit to fraud the property owner
l The accused used deception intending to persuade the owner to give surrender ownership of the property to him or her
l The property owner gave the accused ownership of his property because he relied on the accused pretense
l The property was exceeded $950
To prove grand theft by a trick:
l The offended obtained stolen goods knowing they belonged to someone else
l The property owner agreed to be deceived by the accused to pass ownership of the property
l The accused intended to retain the property permanently
l The accused seized the property for an extended period
l The property owner did not intend to transfer the property ownership
To prove grand theft by embezzlement:
l The property owner entrusted his property with the accused
l The owner trusted the accused
l The accused used the property for his or her benefit
l The accused intended to deprive the property owner of its use
l And finally, the property was worth more than $950
Penal Code Section 487 and Related Charges
Grand theft is under penal code 487 PC and is used to prosecute theft crimes that involve property worth more than $950. Several other related crimes may be charged along with grand theft offense. They include:
Penal Code 484 and 488: The statute describes petty theft, which is similar to the legal definition of grand theft. The difference between penal code 484 and 488 with 487, is that petty theft is charged for property worth less than $950.
Penal Code 666: The statute defines petty theft with a prior theft crime convictions. Charges for this crime can increase if you had a previous felony charge. The offense can become a wobbler that may lead to a felony level.
Penal Code 487 (d): The statute defines grand theft auto, which is a broader crime of grand theft. The difference is that grand theft auto happens when the property has stolen an automobile. The offense is always charged as a felony.
Penal Code 459: The statute is defied as burglary, auto burglary, and burglary with explosives. The law explains burglary is when the accused enters a building or an enclosed shelter intending to commit petty theft or felony while inside. Auto burglary is similar to burglary except that in the auto burglary, the accused enters a car instead of a building. The charge for this crime is a felony.
Penal Code 211: The statute talks of robbery, which occurs when the accused uses force to take someone’s property against their will. Hence, if you are charged with this crime, most likely, you will possibly get accused of both grand theft and robbery. Robbery charges are a felony.
Penal Code 470: The law describes forgery in this section. The crime occurs when the accused fakes a signature or alters a genuine document without any authorization from the involved party for selfish gains. Most probably, when you are accused of grand theft categories, there is a big chance to be also charged with forgery. Forgery crime is a wobbler.
Penal Code 424: This statute describes the misappropriation of public funds. The crime occurs when the defendant, who has control over federal funds, misuses the funds by lending or funding out without authorization. The offense is mostly charged against government officials or administrators at non-government offices. Penal Code 424 is similar to grand theft by embezzlement. However, the crime carries severe penalties, which is a felony.
Contact A Darwish Law Near Me
Grand theft is a severe offense in California, and it is vigorously prosecuted. Therefore, you must have a first-rate legal representation. Darwish Law will work with you to understand the circumstances that led to your arrest and build a strong defense. Our goal is to win an acquittal. If necessary, we seek charges reduction. Being accused of grand theft is a terrible nightmare considering the penalties imposed that have a negative impact on your life. Remember, you are not alone. You can always give us a call on 714-887-4810 if you are faced with grand theft charges.