Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft penal code

[ashleys]

I was caught shoplifting in april and I got booked, and spent a few hours in jail then was released with a promise to appear in court. My charge was
484(A)PC. Is that petty theft or felony because someone said that because I was booked in jail its a felony and if it was petty theft they would have just given me a court date.

 

[jacksgal]

484. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, carry,
lead, or drive away the personal property of another, or who shall
fraudulently appropriate property which has been entrusted to him or
her, or who shall knowingly and designedly, by any false or
fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud any other person of
money, labor or real or personal property, or who causes or procures
others to report falsely of his or her wealth or mercantile character
and by thus imposing upon any person, obtains credit and thereby
fraudulently gets or obtains possession of money, or property or
obtains the labor or service of another, is guilty of theft. In
determining the value of the property obtained, for the purposes of
this section, the reasonable and fair market value shall be the test,
and in determining the value of services received the contract price
shall be the test. If there be no contract price, the reasonable
and going wage for the service rendered shall govern. For the
purposes of this section, any false or fraudulent representation or
pretense made shall be treated as continuing, so as to cover any
money, property or service received as a result thereof, and the
complaint, information or indictment may charge that the crime was
committed on any date during the particular period in question. The
hiring of any additional employee or employees without advising each
of them of every labor claim due and unpaid and every judgment that
the employer has been unable to meet shall be prima facie evidence of
intent to defraud. (b) (1) Except as provided in Section 10855 of the Vehicle Code,
where a person has leased or rented the personal property of another
person pursuant to a written contract, and that property has a value
greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and is not a commonly used
household item, intent to commit theft by fraud shall be rebuttably
presumed if the person fails to return the personal property to its
owner within 10 days after the owner has made written demand by
certified or registered mail following the expiration of the lease or
rental agreement for return of the property so leased or rented.
(2) Except as provided in Section 10855 of the Vehicle Code, where
a person has leased or rented the personal property of another
person pursuant to a written contract, and where the property has a
value no greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or where the
property is a commonly used household item, intent to commit theft by
fraud shall be rebuttably presumed if the person fails to return the
personal property to its owner within 20 days after the owner has
made written demand by certified or registered mail following the
expiration of the lease or rental agreement for return of the
property so leased or rented.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b), if one
presents with criminal intent identification which bears a false or
fictitious name or address for the purpose of obtaining the lease or
rental of the personal property of another, the presumption created
herein shall apply upon the failure of the lessee to return the
rental property at the expiration of the lease or rental agreement,
and no written demand for the return of the leased or rented property
shall be required.
(d) The presumptions created by subdivisions (b) and (c) are
presumptions affecting the burden of producing evidence.
(e) Within 30 days after the lease or rental agreement has
expired, the owner shall make written demand for return of the
property so leased or rented. Notice addressed and mailed to the
lessee or renter at the address given at the time of the making of
the lease or rental agreement and to any other known address shall
constitute proper demand. Where the owner fails to make such written
demand the presumption created by subdivision (b) shall not apply.



484.1. (a) Any person who knowingly gives false information or
provides false verification as to the person's true identity or as to
the person's ownership interest in property or the person's
authority to sell property in order to receive money or other
valuable consideration from a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer and who
receives money or other valuable consideration from the pawnbroker
or secondhand dealer is guilty of theft.

 

[CdwJava]

I was caught shoplifting in april and I got booked, and spent a few hours in jail then was released with a promise to appear in court. My charge was
484(A)PC. Is that petty theft or felony because someone said that because I was booked in jail its a felony and if it was petty theft they would have just given me a court date.

PC 484 is essentially the definition of theft. Whether the theft is a felony or a misdemeanor will generally depend on the value of the items taken.

If you were released with a signed promise to appear, chances are that you were charged with petty theft pursuant to PC 488 and/or PC 490.5.

- Carl