People v. Vargas

197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 638, 243 Cal. App. 4th 1416, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 36
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 2nd District
DecidedJanuary 19, 2016
DocketB262129
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 638 (People v. Vargas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 2nd District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Vargas, 197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 638, 243 Cal. App. 4th 1416, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 36 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

FLIER, J.

*1419INTRODUCTION

"On November 4, 2014, voters enacted Proposition 47, 'The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.' It was intended to 'ensure that prison spending is focused on violent and serious offenses, to maximize alternatives for nonserious, nonviolent crime, and to invest the savings generated from this act into prevention and support programs in K-12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment.' (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 4, 2014) text of Prop. 47, § 2, p. 70.) To that end, Proposition 47 reduced most possessory drug offenses and thefts of property valued at less than $950 to straight misdemeanors and created a process for persons currently serving felony sentences for those offenses to petition for resentencing for misdemeanors. (See Couzens & Bigelow, Proposition 47 'The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act' (Aug. 2015) p. 6....)" (People v. Buycks (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 519, 521, 194 Cal.Rptr.3d 33.)

Penal Code section 459.51 was among the provisions added by Proposition 47. It reduces certain second degree burglaries to misdemeanors by defining them as "shoplifting," that is, "entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950)." (§ 459.5, subd. (a).) In this case, the trial court refused to reduce appellant Grace Vargas's second degree burglary conviction to a misdemeanor because she entered a check cashing establishment with the intent to use a forged check for $148, not to commit what the court commonly understood as *1420shoplifting-the entry into a retail establishment to steal displayed merchandise, or in the words of the court, "going into[, e.g.,] Target with the intent to commit a theft."

Appellant argues this interpretation is too narrow, and her entry into the check cashing establishment with the intent to commit theft by false pretenses satisfies the "intent to commit larceny" element of section 459.5 and qualifies her for resentencing.

*640Respondent disagrees, and urges us to limit section 459.5 to the "common" understanding of shoplifting, which in respondent's view is the "unauthorized entry into a retail establishment, while the establishment is open during regular business hours, with the intent to steal openly-displayed merchandise valuing not more than $950." Alternatively, respondent urges us to follow People v. Gonzales (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 35, 194 Cal.Rptr.3d 856 (Gonzales ), in which the Fourth District, Division One, recently held the "intent to commit larceny" element in section 459.5 cannot be satisfied by entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit theft by false pretenses.

As we will explain, both respondent and, in our opinion, Gonzales interpret section 459.5 too narrowly. Certainly, the lay person might understand "shoplifting" to mean entering a retail store during regular business hours with the intent to steal displayed merchandise, as respondent urges. But that is not how the voters defined "shoplifting" in section 459.5 ; instead, they defined it as entering a commercial establishment during business hours with the "intent to commit larceny." Accepting respondent's narrow interpretation would require us to rewrite the statute, which we cannot do. Similarly, we disagree with Gonzales that the phrase "intent to commit larceny" excludes the intent to commit theft by false pretenses. Larceny is statutorily equated with "theft" (§ 490a), and "theft" is defined to include theft by false pretenses, that is, "knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud[ing] any other person of money, labor or real or personal property." (§ 484, subd. (a).) In holding otherwise, Gonzales relied on People v. Williams (2013) 57 Cal.4th 776, 161 Cal.Rptr.3d 81, 305 P.3d 1241 (Williams ), but we find Williams distinguishable because it involved the interpretation of the "felonious taking" element of robbery, not burglary. Instead, section 459.5 redefined certain second degree burglaries, and our high court has held "[a]n intent to commit theft by a false pretense or a false promise without the intent to perform will support a burglary conviction." (People v. Parson (2008) 44 Cal.4th 332, 354, 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 269, 187 P.3d 1 (Parson ), citing People v. Nguyen (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 28, 30-31, 46 Cal.Rptr.2d 840 (Nguyen ).) Because respondent has not disputed that appellant entered the check cashing establishment with the intent to commit theft by false pretenses, she may qualify for resentencing. We therefore reverse.

*1421BACKGROUND

According to a police report of the incident, on February 23, 2013, appellant entered a Money Mart Check Cashing business in Bakersfield and attempted to cash a forged personal check in the amount of $148. An employee contacted the owner of the check, who had reported his checkbook stolen. Appellant was arrested and searched, yielding a methamphetamine pipe in her purse.

Appellant was charged in Kern County with felony second degree burglary (§ 460, subd. (b)), felony forgery of the $148 check (§ 470, subd. (d)), and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia (Health & Saf. Code, former § 11364.1), as well as on-bail enhancements for the felony charges (Pen. Code, § 12022.1 ). Pursuant to a plea agreement, appellant pled guilty to the second degree burglary charge, and the other charges and enhancements were dismissed. She was sentenced to 16 months in custody plus 20 months of mandatory supervision.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 638, 243 Cal. App. 4th 1416, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 36, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vargas-calctapp2d-2016.