Amended  IN  Assembly  April 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1794

Introduced by Assembly Members McCarty and Friedman

January 04, 2024

An act to amend Section 487 of, and to add and repeal Section 746 of, the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1794, as amended, McCarty. Crimes. Crimes: larceny.
Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of money, labor, or property petty theft punishable as a misdemeanor, whenever the value of the property taken does not exceed $950. Under existing law, if the value of the property taken exceeds $950, the theft is grand theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. Proposition 47 requires shoplifting, defined as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny if the value of the property taken does not exceed $950, to be punished as a misdemeanor.
Under existing law, if the value of all property taken over the course of distinct but related acts motivated by one intention, general impulse, and plan exceeds $950, those values may be aggregated into a single charge of grand theft.
This bill would clarify that those values may be aggregated even though the thefts occurred in different places or from different victims. The bill would also, declarative of existing law, provide that circumstantial evidence may be used to prove that multiple thefts were motivated by one intention, general impulse, and plan.
The bill would, until January 1, 2030, also authorize counties to operate a program to allow retailers to submit details of alleged shoplifting directly to the county district attorney through an online portal on the district attorney’s internet website. The bill would require counties that participate in the program to conduct an evaluation and collect specified information, and to report that information to the Department of Justice, as specified.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to theft.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 487 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

487.
 Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:
(a) When the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in subdivision (b).
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), grand theft is committed in any of the following cases:
(1) (A) When domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops are taken of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(B) For the purposes of establishing that the value of domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops under this paragraph exceeds two hundred fifty dollars ($250), that value may be shown by the presentation of credible evidence which establishes that on the day of the theft domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops of the same variety and weight exceeded two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in wholesale value.
(2) When fish, shellfish, mollusks, crustaceans, kelp, algae, or other aquacultural products are taken from a commercial or research operation which is producing that product, of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(3) Where the money, labor, real property, or personal property is taken by a servant, agent, or employee from their principal or employer and aggregates nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more in any 12 consecutive month period.
(c) When the property is taken from the person of another.
(d) When the property taken is any of the following:
(1) An automobile.
(2) A firearm.
(e) (1) If the value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) over the course of distinct but related acts, including takings from multiple places or multiple victims, the value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken may properly be aggregated to charge a count of grand theft, if the acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan.
(2) Circumstantial evidence may be used to determine whether multiple takings are committed pursuant to one intention, general impulse, and plan. The following types of evidence are relevant, but not exclusive, in determining whether a defendant acted with a single intent, impulse, and plan in committing a series of thefts:
(A) Whether the defendant took particular items of property.
(B) Whether the defendant took the property within a short time span or similar location.
(C) Whether the defendant employed a single method to take the property.

SEC. 2.

 Section 746 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

746.
 (a) Counties may operate a program to allow retail stores to submit investigative reports to prosecutors for the prosecutors to determine whether to file charges for retail theft. The program shall allow retailers to submit details of alleged shoplifting directly to the county district attorney through an online portal on the district attorney’s internet website. The district attorney may use these submissions to determine whether further investigation is necessary and whether to file charges.
(b) Each county that operates a program pursuant to this section shall establish criteria on the types of cases they may investigate. The cases the program may investigate shall include, but not be limited to, cases that meet any of the following criteria:
(1) A five-hundred-dollar ($500) minimum value of stolen property, or the defendant was acting in concert or committing repeated thefts.
(2) The theft was a felony offense.
(3) The case involves threats of violence.
(4) There is video evidence of the theft.
(5) There is a positive identification of the suspect.
(c) (1) A county that establishes a program pursuant to this section shall conduct an annual evaluation of the pilot program’s impact and effectiveness in their county. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, evaluating the pilot program’s impact on overall retail theft countywide, if any, and its effectiveness with respect to theft reports investigated by the county district attorney’s office.
(2) Counties may contract with an independent entity, including, but not limited to, the Regents of the University of California, for the purposes of conducting the evaluation and preparing the report pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) Counties establishing a program pursuant to this section shall submit an annual report to the Department of Justice on December 31 each year, starting on December 31, 2026. The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of theft reports from retailers to the county district attorney’s office.
(B) The number of theft reports investigated by the county district attorney’s office.
(C) The number of criminal charges filed by the county district attorney’s office in response to the theft reports.
(D) The conviction rates and jail or prison time sentenced by the judge or jury in response to the theft reports.
(E) The report based on the evaluation conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
(d) This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2031, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2030, deletes or extends that date.

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to address problems relating to retail crime and controlled substances in California by adopting new laws to curtail repeat offenders, reassessing public safety accountability measures, and reexamining the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, an initiative statute approved by the voters as Proposition 47 at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.