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.
(b) Upon conviction of the offense described in subdivision (a),
the court may require, in addition to any sentence or fine imposed,
that the defendant make restitution to the pawnbroker or secondhand
dealer in an amount not exceeding the actual losses sustained
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 13967 of the
Government Code, as operative on or before September 28, 1994, if
the defendant is denied probation, or Section 1203.04, as operative
on or before August 2, 1995, if the defendant is granted probation or
Section 1202.4.
(c) Upon the setting of a court hearing date for sentencing of any
person convicted under this section, the probation officer, if one
is assigned, shall notify the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or coin
dealer of the time and place of the hearing.
484b. Any person who receives money for the purpose of obtaining or
paying for services, labor, materials or equipment and willfully
fails to apply such money for such purpose by either willfully
failing to complete the improvements for which funds were provided or
willfully failing to pay for services, labor, materials or equipment
provided incident to such construction, and wrongfully diverts the
funds to a use other than that for which the funds were received,
shall be guilty of a public offense and shall be punishable by a fine
not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in
the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
both that fine and that imprisonment if the amount diverted is in
excess of two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350). If the
amount diverted is less than or equal to two thousand three hundred
fifty dollars ($2,350), the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
484c. Any person who submits a false voucher to obtain construction
loan funds and does not use the funds for the purpose for which the
claim was submitted is guilty of embezzlement.
484d. As used in this section and Sections 484e to 484j, inclusive:
(1) "Cardholder" means any person to whom an access card is issued
or any person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay obligations
arising from the issuance of an access card to another person.
(2) "Access card" means any card, plate, code, account number, or
other means of account access that can be used, alone or in
conjunction with another access card, to obtain money, goods,
services, or any other thing of value, or that can be used to
initiate a transfer of funds, other than a transfer originated solely
by a paper instrument.
(3) "Expired access card" means an access card which shows on its
face it has elapsed.
(4) "Card issuer" means any person who issues an access card or
the agent of that person with respect to that card.
(5) "Retailer" means every person who is authorized by an issuer
to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon
presentation of an access card by a cardholder.
(6) An access card is "incomplete" if part of the matter other
than the signature of the cardholder which an issuer requires to
appear on the access card before it can be used by a cardholder has
not been stamped, embossed, imprinted, or written on it.
(7) "Revoked access card" means an access card which is no longer
authorized for use by the issuer, that authorization having been
suspended or terminated and written notice thereof having been given
to the cardholder.
(8) "Counterfeit access card" means any access card that is
counterfeit, fictitious, altered, or forged, or any false
representation or depiction of an access card or a component thereof.
(9) "Traffic" means to transfer or otherwise dispose of property
to another, or to obtain control of property with intent to transfer
or dispose of it to another.
(10) "Card making equipment" means any equipment, machine, plate,
mechanism, impression, or other device designed, used, or intended to
be used to produce an access card.
484e. (a) Every person who, with intent to defraud, sells,
transfers, or conveys, an access card, without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person, other than the issuer, who within any
consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the
names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were
taken or retained under circumstances which constitute a violation
of subdivision (a), (c), or (d) is guilty of grand theft.
(c) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires or
retains possession of an access card without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, with intent to use, sell, or transfer it to a
person other than the cardholder or issuer is guilty of petty theft.
(d) Every person who acquires or retains possession of access card
account information with respect to an access card validly issued to
another person, without the cardholder's or issuer's consent, with
the intent to use it fraudulently, is guilty of grand theft.
484f. (a) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, designs,
makes, alters, or embosses a counterfeit access card or utters or
otherwise attempts to use a counterfeit access card is guilty of
forgery.
(b) A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by
him or her who, with the intent to defraud, signs the name of another
or of a fictitious person to an access card, sales slip, sales
draft, or instrument for the payment of money which evidences an
access card transaction, is guilty of forgery.
484g. Every person who, with the intent to defraud, (a) uses, for
the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of
value, an access card or access card account information that has
been altered, obtained, or retained in violation of Section 484e or
484f, or an access card which he or she knows is forged, expired, or
revoked, or (b) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of
value by representing without the consent of the cardholder that he
or she is the holder of an access card and the card has not in fact
been issued, is guilty of theft. If the value of all money, goods,
services, and other things of value obtained in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
484h. Every retailer or other person who, with intent to defraud:
(a) Furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value
upon presentation of an access card obtained or retained in violation
of Section 484e or an access card which he or she knows is a
counterfeit access card or is forged, expired, or revoked, and who
receives any payment therefor, is guilty of theft. If the payment
received by the retailer or other person for all money, goods,
services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
(b) Presents for payment a sales slip or other evidence of an
access card transaction, and receives payment therefor, without
furnishing in the transaction money, goods, services, or anything
else of value that is equal in value to the amount of the sales slip
or other evidence of an access card transaction, is guilty of theft.
If the difference between the value of all money, goods, services,
and anything else of value actually furnished and the payment or
payments received by the retailer or other person therefor upon
presentation of a sales slip or other evidence of an access card
transaction exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any
consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand
theft.
484i. (a) Every person who possesses an incomplete access card,
with intent to complete it without the consent of the issuer, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, makes, alters,
varies, changes, or modifies access card account information on any
part of an access card, including information encoded in a magnetic
stripe or other medium on the access card not directly readable by
the human eye, or who authorizes or consents to alteration, variance,
change, or modification of access card account information by
another, in a manner that causes transactions initiated by that
access card to be charged or billed to a person other than the
cardholder to whom the access card was issued, is guilty of forgery.
(c) Every person who designs, makes, possesses, or traffics in
card making equipment or incomplete access cards with the intent that
the equipment or cards be used to make counterfeit access cards, is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
484j. Any person who publishes the number or code of an existing,
canceled, revoked, expired or nonexistent access card, personal
identification number, computer password, access code, debit card
number, bank account number, or the numbering or coding which is
employed in the issuance of access cards, with the intent that it be
used or with knowledge or reason to believe that it will be used to
avoid the payment of any lawful charge, or with intent to defraud or
aid another in defrauding, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in
this section, "publishes" means the communication of information to
any one or more persons, either orally, in person or by telephone,
radio or television, or on a computer network or computer bulletin
board, or in a writing of any kind, including without limitation a
letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine
article, or book.
485. One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft.
486. Theft is divided into two degrees, the first of which is
termed grand theft; the second, petty theft.
487. Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:
(a) When the money, labor, or real 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, or real or personal property is taken
by a servant, agent, or employee from his or her 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, horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any
caprine animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt,
barrow, or pig.
(2) A firearm.
487a. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport
or carry the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine
animal or of any mule, jack or jenny, which is the personal property
of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate such property
which has been entrusted to him, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport, or
carry any portion of the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine,
ovine, or suine animal or of any mule, jack, or jenny, which has been
killed without the consent of the owner thereof, is guilty of grand
theft.
487b. Every person who converts real estate of the value of two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so, steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of grand
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487c. Every person who converts real estate of the value of less
than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of petty
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
487d. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, and carries away,
or attempts to take, steal, and carry from any mining claim, tunnel,
sluice, undercurrent, riffle box, or sulfurate machine, another's
gold dust, amalgam, or quicksilver is guilty of grand theft and is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487e. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of grand theft.
487f. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value not exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of petty theft.
487g. Every person who steals or maliciously takes or carries away
any animal of another for purposes of sale, medical research,
slaughter, or other commercial use, or who knowingly, by any false
representation or pretense, defrauds another person of any animal for
purposes of sale, medical research, slaughter, or other commercial
use is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.
487h. (a) Every person who steals, takes, or carries away cargo of
another, if the cargo taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in Sections 487, 487a, and
487d, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "cargo" means any goods,
wares, products, or manufactured merchandise that has been loaded
into a trailer, railcar, or cargo container, awaiting or in transit.
487i. Any person who defrauds a housing program of a public housing
authority of more than four hundred dollars ($400) is guilty of
grand theft.
488. Theft in other cases is petty theft.
489. Grand theft is punishable as follows:
(a) When the grand theft involves the theft of a firearm, by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years.
(b) In all other cases, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year or in the state prison.
490. Petty theft is punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding
six months, or both.
490a. Wherever any law or statute of this state refers to or
mentions larceny, embezzlement, or stealing, said law or statute
shall hereafter be read and interpreted as if the word "theft" were
substituted therefor.
490.1. (a) Petty theft, where the value of the money, labor, real
or personal property taken is of a value which does not exceed fifty
dollars ($50), may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at
the discretion of the prosecutor, provided that the person charged
with the offense has no other theft or theft-related conviction.
(b) Any offense charged as an infraction under this section shall
be subject to the provisions of subdivision (d) of Section 17 and
Sections 19.6 and 19.7.
A violation which is an infraction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
490.5. (a) Upon a first conviction for petty theft involving
merchandise taken from a merchant's premises or a book or other
library materials taken from a library facility, a person shall be
punished by a mandatory fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and
not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such violation;
and may also be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, not
exceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) When an unemancipated minor's willful conduct would constitute
petty theft involving merchandise taken from a merchant's premises
or a book or other library materials taken from a library facility,
any merchant or library facility who has been injured by that conduct
may bring a civil action against the parent or legal guardian having
control and custody of the minor. For the purposes of those actions
the misconduct of the unemancipated minor shall be imputed to the
parent or legal guardian having control and custody of the minor. The
parent or legal guardian having control or custody of an
unemancipated minor whose conduct violates this subdivision shall be
jointly and severally liable with the minor to a merchant or to a
library facility for damages of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor
more than five hundred dollars ($500), plus costs. In addition to
the foregoing damages, the parent or legal guardian shall be jointly
and severally liable with the minor to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in a merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. Recovery of these damages may be had
in addition to, and is not limited by, any other provision of law
which limits the liability of a parent or legal guardian for the
tortious conduct of a minor. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of that
court, or in any other appropriate court; however, total damages,
including the value of the merchandise or book or other library
materials, shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each
action brought under this section.
The provisions of this subdivision are in addition to other civil
remedies and do not limit merchants or other persons to elect to
pursue other civil remedies, except that the provisions of Section
1714.1 of the Civil Code shall not apply herein.
(c) When an adult or emancipated minor has unlawfully taken
merchandise from a merchant's premises, or a book or other library
materials from a library facility, the adult or emancipated minor
shall be liable to the merchant or library facility for damages of
not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred dollars
($500), plus costs. In addition to the foregoing damages, the adult
or emancipated minor shall be liable to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of such
court, or in any other appropriate court. The provisions of this
subdivision are in addition to other civil remedies and do not limit
merchants or other persons to elect to pursue other civil remedies.
(d) In lieu of the fines prescribed by subdivision (a), any person
may be required to perform public services designated by the court,
provided that in no event shall any such person be required to
perform less than the number of hours of such public service
necessary to satisfy the fine assessed by the court as provided by
subdivision (a) at the minimum wage prevailing in the state at the
time of sentencing.
(e) All fines collected under this section shall be collected and
distributed in accordance with Sections 1463 and 1463.1 of the Penal
Code; provided, however, that a county may, by a majority vote of the
members of its board of supervisors, allocate any amount up to, but
not exceeding 50 percent of such fines to the county superintendent
of schools for allocation to local school districts. The fines
allocated shall be administered by the county superintendent of
schools to finance public school programs, which provide counseling
or other educational services designed to discourage shoplifting,
theft, and burglary. Subject to rules and regulations as may be
adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, each county
superintendent of schools shall allocate such funds to school
districts within the county which submit project applications
designed to further the educational purposes of this section. The
costs of administration of this section by each county superintendent
of schools shall be paid from the funds allocated to the county
superintendent of schools.
(f) (1) A merchant may detain a person for a reasonable time for
the purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the merchant has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is attempting to unlawfully take or has unlawfully taken
merchandise from the merchant's premises.
A theater owner may detain a person for a reasonable time for the
purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the theater owner has probable cause to believe the person
to be detained is attempting to operate a video recording device
within the premises of a motion picture theater without the authority
of the owner of the theater.
A person employed by a library facility may detain a person for a
reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an investigation in a
reasonable manner whenever the person employed by a library facility
has probable cause to believe the person to be detained is attempting
to unlawfully remove or has unlawfully removed books or library
materials from the premises of the library facility.
(2) In making the detention a merchant, theater owner, or a person
employed by a library facility may use a reasonable amount of
nondeadly force necessary to protect himself or herself and to
prevent escape of the person detained or the loss of tangible or
intangible property.
(3) During the period of detention any items which a merchant or
theater owner, or any items which a person employed by a library
facility has probable cause to believe are unlawfully taken from the
premises of the merchant or library facility, or recorded on theater
premises, and which are in plain view may be examined by the
merchant, theater owner, or person employed by a library facility for
the purposes of ascertaining the ownership thereof.
(4) A merchant, theater owner, a person employed by a library
facility, or an agent thereof, having probable cause to believe the
person detained was attempting to unlawfully take or has taken any
item from the premises, or was attempting to operate a video
recording device within the premises of a motion picture theater
without the authority of the owner of the theater, may request the
person detained to voluntarily surrender the item or recording.
Should the person detained refuse to surrender the recording or item
of which there is probable cause to believe has been recorded on or
unlawfully taken from the premises, or attempted to be recorded or
unlawfully taken from the premises, a limited and reasonable search
may be conducted by those authorized to make the detention in order
to recover the item. Only packages, shopping bags, handbags or other
property in the immediate possession of the person detained, but not
including any clothing worn by the person, may be searched pursuant
to this subdivision. Upon surrender or discovery of the item, the
person detained may also be requested, but may not be required, to
provide adequate proof of his or her true identity.
(5) If any person admitted to a theater in which a motion picture
is to be or is being exhibited, refuses or fails to give or surrender
possession or to cease operation of any video recording device that
the person has brought into or attempts to bring into that theater,
then a theater owner shall have the right to refuse admission to that
person or request that the person leave the premises and shall
thereupon offer to refund and, unless that offer is refused, refund
to that person the price paid by that person for admission to that
theater. If the person thereafter refuses to leave the theater or
cease operation of the video recording device, then the person shall
be deemed to be intentionally interfering with and obstructing those
attempting to carry on a lawful business within the meaning of
Section 602.1.
(6) A peace officer who accepts custody of a person arrested for
an offense contained in this section may, subsequent to the arrest,
search the person arrested and his or her immediate possessions for
any item or items alleged to have been taken.
(7) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a merchant, it shall be a defense to such
action that the merchant detaining or arresting such person had
probable cause to believe that the person had stolen or attempted to
steal merchandise and that the merchant acted reasonably under all
the circumstances.
In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a theater owner or person employed by a
library facility, it shall be a defense to that action that the
theater owner or person employed by a library facility detaining or
arresting that person had probable cause to believe that the person
was attempting to operate a video recording device within the
premises of a motion picture theater without the authority of the
owner of the theater or had stolen or attempted to steal books or
library materials and that the person employed by a library facility
acted reasonably under all the circumstances.
(g) As used in this section:
(1) "Merchandise" means any personal property, capable of manual
delivery, displayed, held or offered for retail sale by a merchant.
(2) "Merchant" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
consignee, employee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the retail purchase or sale of any personal
property capable of manual delivery.
(3) "Theater owner" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
employee, consignee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the exhibition or performance of motion
pictures to the general public.
(4) The terms "book or other library materials" include any book,
plate, picture, photograph, engraving, painting, drawing, map,
newspaper, magazine, pamphlet, broadside, manuscript, document,
letter, public record, microform, sound recording, audiovisual
material in any format, magnetic or other tape, electronic
data-processing record, artifact, or other documentary, written or
printed material regardless of physical form or characteristics, or
any part thereof, belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the
custody of a library facility.
(5) The term "library facility" includes any public library; any
library of an educational, historical or eleemosynary institution,
organization or society; any museum; any repository of public
records.
(h) Any library facility shall post at its entrance and exit a
conspicuous sign to read as follows:
"IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE THEFT OF BOOKS AND LIBRARY MATERIALS,
STATE LAW AUTHORIZES THE DETENTION FOR A REASONABLE PERIOD OF ANY
PERSON USING THESE FACILITIES SUSPECTED OF COMMITTING "LIBRARY THEFT"
(PENAL CODE SECTION 490.5)."
490.6. (a) A person employed by an amusement park may detain a
person for a reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an
investigation in a reasonable manner whenever the person employed by
the amusement park has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is violating lawful amusement park rules.
(b) If any person admitted to an amusement park refuses or fails
to follow lawful amusement park rules, after being so informed, then
an amusement park employee may request that the person either comply
or leave the premises. If the person refuses to leave the premises or
comply with lawful park rules, then the person shall be deemed to be
intentionally interfering with and obstructing those attempting to
carry on a lawful business within the meaning of Section 602.1.
(c) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or an arrest by a person employed by an amusement park, it
shall be a defense to that action that the amusement park employee
detaining or arresting the person had probable cause to believe that
the person was not following lawful amusement park rules and that the
amusement park employee acted reasonably under all the
circumstances.
490.7. (a) The Legislature finds that free newspapers provide a key
source of information to the public, in many cases providing an
important alternative to the news and ideas expressed in other local
media sources. The Legislature further finds that the unauthorized
taking of multiple copies of free newspapers, whether done to sell
them to recycling centers, to injure a business competitor, to
deprive others of the opportunity to read them, or for any other
reason, injures the rights of readers, writers, publishers, and
advertisers, and impoverishes the marketplace of ideas in California.
(b) No person shall take more than twenty-five (25) copies of the
current issue of a free or complimentary newspaper if done with the
intent to do one or more of the following:
(1) Recycle the newspapers for cash or other payment.
(2) Sell or barter the newspaper.
(3) Deprive others of the opportunity to read or enjoy the
newspaper.
(4) Harm a business competitor.
(c) This section does not apply to the owner or operator of the
newsrack in which the copies are placed, the owner or operator of the
property on which the newsrack is placed, the publisher, the
printer, the distributor, the deliverer of the newspaper, or to any
advertiser in that issue, or to any other person who has the express
permission to do so from any of these entities.
(d) Any newspaper publisher may provide express permission to take
more than twenty-five (25) copies of the current issue of a free or
complimentary newspaper by indicating on the newsrack or in the
newspaper itself, that people may take a greater number of copies if
they wish.
(e) A first violation of subdivision (b) shall be an infraction
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
A second or subsequent violation shall be punishable as an infraction
or a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500),
imprisonment of up to 10 days in a county jail, or by both that fine
and imprisonment. The court may order community service in lieu of
the punishment otherwise provided for an infraction or misdemeanor in
the amount of 20 hours for an infraction, and 40 hours for a
misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section shall not
constitute a conviction for petty theft.
(f) This section shall not be construed to repeal, modify, or
weaken any existing legal prohibitions against the taking of private
property.
(g) For purposes of this section, an issue is current if no more
than half of the period of time until the distribution of the next
issue has passed.
491. Dogs are personal property, and their value is to be
ascertained in the same manner as the value of other property.
492. If the thing stolen consists of any evidence of debt, or other
written instrument, the amount of money due thereupon, or secured to
be paid thereby, and remaining unsatisfied, or which in any
contingency might be collected thereon, or the value of the property
the title to which is shown thereby, or the sum which might be
recovered in the absence thereof, is the value of the thing stolen.
493. If the thing stolen is any ticket or other paper or writing
entitling or purporting to entitle the holder or proprietor thereof
to a passage upon any railroad or vessel or other public conveyance,
the price at which tickets entitling a person to a like passage are
usually sold by the proprietors of such conveyance is the value of
such ticket, paper, or writing.
494. All the provisions of this Chapter apply where the property
taken is an instrument for the payment of money, evidence of debt,
public security, or passage ticket, completed and ready to be issued
or delivered, although the same has never been issued or delivered by
the makers thereof to any person as a purchaser or owner.
495. The provisions of this Chapter apply where the thing taken is
any fixture or part of the realty, and is severed at the time of the
taking, in the same manner as if the thing had been severed by
another person at some previous time.
496. (a) Every person who buys or receives any property that has
been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting
theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained,
or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling,
or withholding any property from the owner, knowing the property to
be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment in a
state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
However, if the district attorney or the grand jury determines that
this action would be in the interests of justice, the district
attorney or the grand jury, as the case may be, may, if the value of
the property does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950),
specify in the accusatory pleading that the offense shall be a
misdemeanor, punishable only by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year.
A principal in the actual theft of the property may be convicted
pursuant to this section. However, no person may be convicted both
pursuant to this section and of the theft of the same property.
(b) Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value in excess of
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) that has been stolen or obtained in
any manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be punished by
imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year.
Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value of nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950) or less that has been stolen or obtained in any
manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who has been injured by a violation of subdivision
(a) or (b) may bring an action for three times the amount of actual
damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff, costs of suit, and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 664, any attempt to commit any act
prohibited by this section, except an offense specified in the
accusatory pleading as a misdemeanor, is punishable by imprisonment
in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
496a. (a) Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of junk,
metals or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or
representative of such dealer or collector, buys or receives any
wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron or brass which he
knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by or ordinarily
belongs to a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph,
gas, water or electric light company or county, city, city and county
or other political subdivision of this state engaged in furnishing
public utility service without using due diligence to ascertain that
the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so,
is guilty of criminally receiving such property, and is punishable,
by imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year, or by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person buying or receiving material pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall obtain evidence of his identity from the seller
including, but not limited to, such person's full name, signature,
address, driver's license number, vehicle license number, and the
license number of the vehicle delivering the material.
The record of the transaction shall include an appropriate
description of the material purchased and such record shall be
maintained pursuant to Section 21607 of the Business and Professions
Code.
496b. Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of
second-hand books or other literary material, or the agent, employee
or representative of such dealer, or collector, buys or receives any
book, manuscript, map, chart, or other work of literature, belonging
to, and bearing any mark or indicia of ownership by a public or
incorporated library, college or university, without ascertaining by
diligent inquiry that the person selling or delivering the same has a
legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving such
property in the first degree if such property be of the value of more
than fifty dollars, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county
jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than twice
the value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment; and is guilty of criminally receiving such property in
the second degree if such property be of the value of fifty dollars
or under, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one month, or by a fine of not more than twice the
value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
496c. Any person who shall copy, transcribe, photograph or
otherwise make a record or memorandum of the contents of any private
and unpublished paper, book, record, map or file, containing
information relating to the title to real property or containing
information used in the business of examining, certifying or insuring
titles to real property and belonging to any person, firm or
corporation engaged in the business of examining, certifying, or
insuring titles to real property, without the consent of the owner of
such paper, book, record, map or file, and with the intent to use
the same or the contents thereof, or to dispose of the same or the
contents thereof to others for use, in the business of examining,
certifying, or insuring titles to real property, shall be guilty of
theft, and any person who shall induce another to violate the
provisions of this section by giving, offering, or promising to such
another any gift, gratuity, or thing of value or by doing or
promising to do any act beneficial to such another, shall be guilty
of theft; and any person who shall receive or acquire from another
any copy, transcription, photograph or other record or memorandum of
the contents of any private and unpublished paper, book, record, map
or file containing information relating to the title to real property
or containing information used in the business of examining,
certifying or insuring titles to real property, with the knowledge
that the same or the contents thereof has or have been acquired,
prepared or compiled in violation of this section shall be guilty of
theft. The contents of any such private and unpublished paper, book,
record, map or file is hereby defined to be personal property, and in
determining the value thereof for the purposes of this section the
cost of aquiring and compiling the same shall be the test.
496d. (a) Every person who buys or receives any motor vehicle, as
defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined
in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction
equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any
vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code,
that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner
constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be stolen or
obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing,
selling, or withholding any motor vehicle, trailer, special
construction equipment, or vessel from the owner, knowing the
property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or two or three years
or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both,
or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or a fine
of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the terms "special
construction equipment" and "vessel" are limited to motorized
vehicles and vessels.
496e. Any person who buys or receives, for purposes of salvage, any
part of a fire hydrant or fire department connection, including, but
not limited to, bronze or brass fittings and parts, that has been
stolen or obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion,
knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall, in addition
to any other penalty provided by law, be subject to a criminal fine
of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
497. Every person who, in another state or country steals or
embezzles the property of another, or receives such property knowing
it to have been stolen or embezzled, and brings the same into this
state, may be convicted and punished in the same manner as if such
larceny, or embezzlement, or receiving, had been committed in this
state.
498. (a) The following definitions govern the construction of this
section:
(1) "Person" means any individual, or any partnership, firm,
association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal
entity.
(2) "Utility" means any electrical, gas, or water corporation as
those terms are defined in the Public Utilities Code, and electrical,
gas, or water systems operated by any political subdivision.
(3) "Customer" means the person in whose name utility service is
provided.
(4) "Utility service" means the provision of electricity, gas,
water, or any other service provided by the utility for compensation.
(5) "Divert" means to change the intended course or path of
electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of
the utility.
(6) "Tamper" means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or
otherwise prevent from performing a normal or customary function.
(7) "Reconnection" means the reconnection of utility service by a
customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected
by the utility.
(b) Any person who, with intent to obtain for himself or herself
utility services without paying the full lawful charge therefor, or
with intent to enable another person to do so, or with intent to
deprive any utility of any part of the full lawful charge for utility
services it provides, commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, or abets
any of the following shall be guilty of a misdemeanor:
(1) Diverts or causes to be diverted utility services, by any
means.
(2) Prevents any utility meter, or other device used in
determining the charge for utility services, from accurately
performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means.
(3) Tampers with any property owned by or used by the utility to
provide utility services.
(4) Makes or causes to be made any connection with or reconnection
with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility
services without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(5) Uses or receives the direct benefit of all or a portion of
utility services with knowledge or reason to believe that the
diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time
of that use, or that the use or receipt was otherwise without the
authorization or consent of the utility.
(c) In any prosecution under this section, the presence of any of
the following objects, circumstances, or conditions on premises
controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the
direct benefit of all or a portion of utility services obtained in
violation of this section shall permit an inference that the customer
or person intended to and did violate this section:
(1) Any instrument, apparatus, or device primarily designed to be
used to obtain utility services without paying the full lawful charge
therefor.
(2) Any meter that has been altered, tampered with, or bypassed so
as to cause no measurement or inaccurate measurement of utility
services.
(d) If the value of all utility services obtained in violation of
this section totals more than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or if
the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under this
section or any former section which would be an offense under this
section, or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the
United States which would have been an offense under this section if
committed in this state, then the violation is punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or in the
state prison.
(e) This section shall not be construed to preclude the
applicability of any other provision of the criminal law of this
state.
499. (a) Any person who, having been convicted of a previous
violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, or of subdivision (d)
of Section 487, involving a vehicle or vessel, and having served a
term therefor in any penal institution or having been imprisoned
therein as a condition of probation for the offense, is subsequently
convicted of a violation of Section 499b, involving a vehicle or
vessel, is punishable for the subsequent offense by imprisonment in
the county jail not exceeding one year or the state prison for 16
months, two, or three years.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of Section 499b, who has
been previously convicted under charges separately brought and tried
two or more times of a violation of Section 499b, all such violations
involving a vehicle or vessel, and who has been imprisoned therefore
as a condition of probation or otherwise at least once, is
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one
year or in the state prison for 16 months, two, or three years.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1997.
499b. (a) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any bicycle for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400), or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding three months, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any vessel for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
499c. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Access" means to approach, a way or means of approaching,
nearing, admittance to, including to instruct, communicate with,
store information in, or retrieve information from a computer system
or computer network.
(2) "Article" means any object, material, device, or substance or
copy thereof, including any writing, record, recording, drawing,
sample, specimen, prototype, model, photograph, micro-organism,
blueprint, map, or tangible representation of a computer program or
information, including both human and computer readable information
and information while in transit.
(3) "Benefit" means gain or advantage, or anything regarded by the
beneficiary as gain or advantage, including benefit to any other
person or entity in whose welfare he or she is interested.
(4) "Computer system" means a machine or collection of machines,
one or more of which contain computer programs and information, that
performs functions, including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic,
information storage and retrieval, communications, and control.
(5) "Computer network" means an interconnection of two or more
computer systems.
(6) "Computer program" means an ordered set of instructions or
statements, and related information that, when automatically executed
in actual or modified form in a computer system, causes it to
perform specified functions.
(7) "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph or other
reproduction of an article, and any note, drawing or sketch made of
or from an article.
(8) "Representing" means describing, depicting, containing,
constituting, reflecting or recording.
(9) "Trade secret" means information, including a formula,
pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process,
that:
(A) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from
not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can
obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(B) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the
circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
(b) Every person is guilty of theft who, with intent to deprive or
withhold the control of a trade secret from its owner, or with an
intent to appropriate a trade secret to his or her own use or to the
use of another, does any of the following:
(1) Steals, takes, carries away, or uses without authorization, a
trade secret.
(2) Fraudulently appropriates any article representing a trade
secret entrusted to him or her.
(3) Having unlawfully obtained access to the article, without
authority makes or causes to be made a copy of any article
representing a trade secret.
(4) Having obtained access to the article through a relationship
of trust and confidence, without authority and in breach of the
obligations created by that relationship, makes or causes to be made,
directly from and in the presence of the article, a copy of any
article representing a trade secret.
(c) Every person who promises, offers or gives, or conspires to
promise or offer to give, to any present or former agent, employee or
servant of another, a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for
conveying, delivering or otherwise making available an article
representing a trade secret owned by his or her present or former
principal, employer or master, to any person not authorized by the
owner to receive or acquire the trade secret and every present or
former agent, employee, or servant, who solicits, accepts, receives
or takes a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for conveying,
delivering or otherwise making available an article representing a
trade secret owned by his or her present or former principal,
employer or master, to any person not authorized by the owner to
receive or acquire the trade secret, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding
one year, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000),
or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(d) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, it shall be
no defense that the person returned or intended to return the
article.
499d. Any person who operates or takes an aircraft not his own,
without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent to either
permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his title to
or possession of such vehicle, whether with or without intent to
steal the same, or any person who is a party or accessory to or an
accomplice in any operation or unauthorized taking or stealing is
guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail for not more
than one year or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment.
500. (a) Any person who receives money for the actual or purported
purpose of transmitting the same or its equivalent to foreign
countries as specified in Section 1800.5 of the Financial Code who
fails to do at least one of the following acts unless otherwise
instructed by the customer is guilty of a misdemeanor or felony as
set forth in subdivision (b):
(1) Forward the money as represented to the customer within 10
days of receipt of the funds.
(2) Give instructions within 10 days of receipt of the customer's
funds, committing equivalent funds to the person designated by the
customer.
(3) Refund to the customer any money not forwarded as represented
within 10 days of the customer's written request for a refund
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1810.5 of the Financial Code.
(b) (1) If the total value of the funds received from the customer
is less than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), the offense set
forth in subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(2) If the total value of the money received from the customer is
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, or if the total value of
all moneys received by the person from different customers is nine
hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, and the receipts were part of a
common scheme or plan, the offense set forth in subdivision (a) is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3
years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
both that imprisonment and fine.
501. Upon a trial for larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes,
certificates of stock, or valuable securities, the allegation of the
indictment or information, so far as regards the description of the
property, is sustained, if the offender be proved to have embezzled
or stolen any money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable
security, although the particular species of coin or other money, or
the number, denomination, or kind of bank notes, certificates of
stock, or valuable security, is not proved; and upon a trial for
embezzlement, if the offender is proved to have embezzled any piece
of coin or other money, any bank note, certificate of stock, or
valuable security, although the piece of coin or other money, or bank
note, certificate of stock, or valuable security, may have been
delivered to him or her in order that some part of the value thereof
should be returned to the party delivering the same, and such part
shall have been returned accordingly.
502. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to expand the degree of protection afforded to individuals,
businesses, and governmental agencies from tampering, interference,
damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and
computer systems. The Legislature finds and declares that the
proliferation of computer technology has resulted in a concomitant
proliferation of computer crime and other forms of unauthorized
access to computers, computer systems, and computer data.
The Legislature further finds and declares that protection of the
integrity of all types and forms of lawfully created computers,
computer systems, and computer data is vital to the protection of the
privacy of individuals as well as to the well-being of financial
institutions, business concerns, governmental agencies, and others
within this state that lawfully utilize those computers, computer
systems, and data.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Access" means to gain entry to, instruct, or communicate with
the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(2) "Computer network" means any system that provides
communications between one or more computer systems and input/output
devices including, but not limited to, display terminals and printers
connected by telecommunication facilities.
(3) "Computer program or software" means a set of instructions or
statements, and related data, that when executed in actual or
modified form, cause a computer, computer system, or computer network
to perform specified functions.
(4) "Computer services" includes, but is not limited to, computer
time, data processing, or storage functions, or other uses of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(5) "Computer system" means a device or collection of devices,
including support devices and excluding calculators that are not
programmable and capable of being used in conjunction with external
files, one or more of which contain computer programs, electronic
instructions, input data, and output data, that performs functions
including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic, data storage and
retrieval, communication, and control.
(6) "Data" means a representation of information, knowledge,
facts, concepts, computer software, computer programs or
instructions. Data may be in any form, in storage media, or as stored
in the memory of the computer or in transit or presented on a
display device.
(7) "Supporting documentation" includes, but is not limited to,
all information, in any form, pertaining to the design, construction,
classification, implementation, use, or modification of a computer,
computer system, computer network, computer program, or computer
software, which information is not generally available to the public
and is necessary for the operation of a computer, computer system,
computer network, computer program, or computer software.
(8) "Injury" means any alteration, deletion, damage, or
destruction of a computer system, computer network, computer program,
or data caused by the access, or the denial of access to legitimate
users of a computer system, network, or program.
(9) "Victim expenditure" means any expenditure reasonably and
necessarily incurred by the owner or lessee to verify that a computer
system, computer network, computer program, or data was or was not
altered, deleted, damaged, or destroyed by the access.
(10) "Computer contaminant" means any set of computer instructions
that are designed to modify, damage, destroy, record, or transmit
information within a computer, computer system, or computer network
without the intent or permission of the owner of the information.
They include, but are not limited to, a group of computer
instructions commonly called viruses or worms, that are
self-replicating or self-propagating and are designed to contaminate
other computer programs or computer data, consume computer resources,
modify, destroy, record, or transmit data, or in some other fashion
usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer system, or
computer network.
(11) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique, hierarchical
reference to an Internet host or service, assigned through
centralized Internet naming authorities, comprising a series of
character strings separated by periods, with the rightmost character
string specifying the top of the hierarchy.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), any person who commits
any of the following acts is guilty of a public offense:
(1) Knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages,
deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer
system, or computer network in order to either (A) devise or execute
any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort, or (B)
wrongfully
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.
(b) Upon conviction of the offense described in subdivision (a),
the court may require, in addition to any sentence or fine imposed,
that the defendant make restitution to the pawnbroker or secondhand
dealer in an amount not exceeding the actual losses sustained
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 13967 of the
Government Code, as operative on or before September 28, 1994, if
the defendant is denied probation, or Section 1203.04, as operative
on or before August 2, 1995, if the defendant is granted probation or
Section 1202.4.
(c) Upon the setting of a court hearing date for sentencing of any
person convicted under this section, the probation officer, if one
is assigned, shall notify the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or coin
dealer of the time and place of the hearing.
484b. Any person who receives money for the purpose of obtaining or
paying for services, labor, materials or equipment and willfully
fails to apply such money for such purpose by either willfully
failing to complete the improvements for which funds were provided or
willfully failing to pay for services, labor, materials or equipment
provided incident to such construction, and wrongfully diverts the
funds to a use other than that for which the funds were received,
shall be guilty of a public offense and shall be punishable by a fine
not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in
the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
both that fine and that imprisonment if the amount diverted is in
excess of two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350). If the
amount diverted is less than or equal to two thousand three hundred
fifty dollars ($2,350), the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
484c. Any person who submits a false voucher to obtain construction
loan funds and does not use the funds for the purpose for which the
claim was submitted is guilty of embezzlement.
484d. As used in this section and Sections 484e to 484j, inclusive:
(1) "Cardholder" means any person to whom an access card is issued
or any person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay obligations
arising from the issuance of an access card to another person.
(2) "Access card" means any card, plate, code, account number, or
other means of account access that can be used, alone or in
conjunction with another access card, to obtain money, goods,
services, or any other thing of value, or that can be used to
initiate a transfer of funds, other than a transfer originated solely
by a paper instrument.
(3) "Expired access card" means an access card which shows on its
face it has elapsed.
(4) "Card issuer" means any person who issues an access card or
the agent of that person with respect to that card.
(5) "Retailer" means every person who is authorized by an issuer
to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon
presentation of an access card by a cardholder.
(6) An access card is "incomplete" if part of the matter other
than the signature of the cardholder which an issuer requires to
appear on the access card before it can be used by a cardholder has
not been stamped, embossed, imprinted, or written on it.
(7) "Revoked access card" means an access card which is no longer
authorized for use by the issuer, that authorization having been
suspended or terminated and written notice thereof having been given
to the cardholder.
(8) "Counterfeit access card" means any access card that is
counterfeit, fictitious, altered, or forged, or any false
representation or depiction of an access card or a component thereof.
(9) "Traffic" means to transfer or otherwise dispose of property
to another, or to obtain control of property with intent to transfer
or dispose of it to another.
(10) "Card making equipment" means any equipment, machine, plate,
mechanism, impression, or other device designed, used, or intended to
be used to produce an access card.
484e. (a) Every person who, with intent to defraud, sells,
transfers, or conveys, an access card, without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person, other than the issuer, who within any
consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the
names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were
taken or retained under circumstances which constitute a violation
of subdivision (a), (c), or (d) is guilty of grand theft.
(c) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires or
retains possession of an access card without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, with intent to use, sell, or transfer it to a
person other than the cardholder or issuer is guilty of petty theft.
(d) Every person who acquires or retains possession of access card
account information with respect to an access card validly issued to
another person, without the cardholder's or issuer's consent, with
the intent to use it fraudulently, is guilty of grand theft.
484f. (a) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, designs,
makes, alters, or embosses a counterfeit access card or utters or
otherwise attempts to use a counterfeit access card is guilty of
forgery.
(b) A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by
him or her who, with the intent to defraud, signs the name of another
or of a fictitious person to an access card, sales slip, sales
draft, or instrument for the payment of money which evidences an
access card transaction, is guilty of forgery.
484g. Every person who, with the intent to defraud, (a) uses, for
the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of
value, an access card or access card account information that has
been altered, obtained, or retained in violation of Section 484e or
484f, or an access card which he or she knows is forged, expired, or
revoked, or (b) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of
value by representing without the consent of the cardholder that he
or she is the holder of an access card and the card has not in fact
been issued, is guilty of theft. If the value of all money, goods,
services, and other things of value obtained in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
484h. Every retailer or other person who, with intent to defraud:
(a) Furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value
upon presentation of an access card obtained or retained in violation
of Section 484e or an access card which he or she knows is a
counterfeit access card or is forged, expired, or revoked, and who
receives any payment therefor, is guilty of theft. If the payment
received by the retailer or other person for all money, goods,
services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
(b) Presents for payment a sales slip or other evidence of an
access card transaction, and receives payment therefor, without
furnishing in the transaction money, goods, services, or anything
else of value that is equal in value to the amount of the sales slip
or other evidence of an access card transaction, is guilty of theft.
If the difference between the value of all money, goods, services,
and anything else of value actually furnished and the payment or
payments received by the retailer or other person therefor upon
presentation of a sales slip or other evidence of an access card
transaction exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any
consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand
theft.
484i. (a) Every person who possesses an incomplete access card,
with intent to complete it without the consent of the issuer, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, makes, alters,
varies, changes, or modifies access card account information on any
part of an access card, including information encoded in a magnetic
stripe or other medium on the access card not directly readable by
the human eye, or who authorizes or consents to alteration, variance,
change, or modification of access card account information by
another, in a manner that causes transactions initiated by that
access card to be charged or billed to a person other than the
cardholder to whom the access card was issued, is guilty of forgery.
(c) Every person who designs, makes, possesses, or traffics in
card making equipment or incomplete access cards with the intent that
the equipment or cards be used to make counterfeit access cards, is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
484j. Any person who publishes the number or code of an existing,
canceled, revoked, expired or nonexistent access card, personal
identification number, computer password, access code, debit card
number, bank account number, or the numbering or coding which is
employed in the issuance of access cards, with the intent that it be
used or with knowledge or reason to believe that it will be used to
avoid the payment of any lawful charge, or with intent to defraud or
aid another in defrauding, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in
this section, "publishes" means the communication of information to
any one or more persons, either orally, in person or by telephone,
radio or television, or on a computer network or computer bulletin
board, or in a writing of any kind, including without limitation a
letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine
article, or book.
485. One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft.
486. Theft is divided into two degrees, the first of which is
termed grand theft; the second, petty theft.
487. Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:
(a) When the money, labor, or real 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, or real or personal property is taken
by a servant, agent, or employee from his or her 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, horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any
caprine animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt,
barrow, or pig.
(2) A firearm.
487a. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport
or carry the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine
animal or of any mule, jack or jenny, which is the personal property
of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate such property
which has been entrusted to him, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport, or
carry any portion of the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine,
ovine, or suine animal or of any mule, jack, or jenny, which has been
killed without the consent of the owner thereof, is guilty of grand
theft.
487b. Every person who converts real estate of the value of two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so, steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of grand
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487c. Every person who converts real estate of the value of less
than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of petty
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
487d. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, and carries away,
or attempts to take, steal, and carry from any mining claim, tunnel,
sluice, undercurrent, riffle box, or sulfurate machine, another's
gold dust, amalgam, or quicksilver is guilty of grand theft and is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487e. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of grand theft.
487f. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value not exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of petty theft.
487g. Every person who steals or maliciously takes or carries away
any animal of another for purposes of sale, medical research,
slaughter, or other commercial use, or who knowingly, by any false
representation or pretense, defrauds another person of any animal for
purposes of sale, medical research, slaughter, or other commercial
use is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.
487h. (a) Every person who steals, takes, or carries away cargo of
another, if the cargo taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in Sections 487, 487a, and
487d, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "cargo" means any goods,
wares, products, or manufactured merchandise that has been loaded
into a trailer, railcar, or cargo container, awaiting or in transit.
487i. Any person who defrauds a housing program of a public housing
authority of more than four hundred dollars ($400) is guilty of
grand theft.
488. Theft in other cases is petty theft.
489. Grand theft is punishable as follows:
(a) When the grand theft involves the theft of a firearm, by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years.
(b) In all other cases, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year or in the state prison.
490. Petty theft is punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding
six months, or both.
490a. Wherever any law or statute of this state refers to or
mentions larceny, embezzlement, or stealing, said law or statute
shall hereafter be read and interpreted as if the word "theft" were
substituted therefor.
490.1. (a) Petty theft, where the value of the money, labor, real
or personal property taken is of a value which does not exceed fifty
dollars ($50), may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at
the discretion of the prosecutor, provided that the person charged
with the offense has no other theft or theft-related conviction.
(b) Any offense charged as an infraction under this section shall
be subject to the provisions of subdivision (d) of Section 17 and
Sections 19.6 and 19.7.
A violation which is an infraction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
490.5. (a) Upon a first conviction for petty theft involving
merchandise taken from a merchant's premises or a book or other
library materials taken from a library facility, a person shall be
punished by a mandatory fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and
not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such violation;
and may also be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, not
exceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) When an unemancipated minor's willful conduct would constitute
petty theft involving merchandise taken from a merchant's premises
or a book or other library materials taken from a library facility,
any merchant or library facility who has been injured by that conduct
may bring a civil action against the parent or legal guardian having
control and custody of the minor. For the purposes of those actions
the misconduct of the unemancipated minor shall be imputed to the
parent or legal guardian having control and custody of the minor. The
parent or legal guardian having control or custody of an
unemancipated minor whose conduct violates this subdivision shall be
jointly and severally liable with the minor to a merchant or to a
library facility for damages of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor
more than five hundred dollars ($500), plus costs. In addition to
the foregoing damages, the parent or legal guardian shall be jointly
and severally liable with the minor to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in a merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. Recovery of these damages may be had
in addition to, and is not limited by, any other provision of law
which limits the liability of a parent or legal guardian for the
tortious conduct of a minor. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of that
court, or in any other appropriate court; however, total damages,
including the value of the merchandise or book or other library
materials, shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each
action brought under this section.
The provisions of this subdivision are in addition to other civil
remedies and do not limit merchants or other persons to elect to
pursue other civil remedies, except that the provisions of Section
1714.1 of the Civil Code shall not apply herein.
(c) When an adult or emancipated minor has unlawfully taken
merchandise from a merchant's premises, or a book or other library
materials from a library facility, the adult or emancipated minor
shall be liable to the merchant or library facility for damages of
not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred dollars
($500), plus costs. In addition to the foregoing damages, the adult
or emancipated minor shall be liable to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of such
court, or in any other appropriate court. The provisions of this
subdivision are in addition to other civil remedies and do not limit
merchants or other persons to elect to pursue other civil remedies.
(d) In lieu of the fines prescribed by subdivision (a), any person
may be required to perform public services designated by the court,
provided that in no event shall any such person be required to
perform less than the number of hours of such public service
necessary to satisfy the fine assessed by the court as provided by
subdivision (a) at the minimum wage prevailing in the state at the
time of sentencing.
(e) All fines collected under this section shall be collected and
distributed in accordance with Sections 1463 and 1463.1 of the Penal
Code; provided, however, that a county may, by a majority vote of the
members of its board of supervisors, allocate any amount up to, but
not exceeding 50 percent of such fines to the county superintendent
of schools for allocation to local school districts. The fines
allocated shall be administered by the county superintendent of
schools to finance public school programs, which provide counseling
or other educational services designed to discourage shoplifting,
theft, and burglary. Subject to rules and regulations as may be
adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, each county
superintendent of schools shall allocate such funds to school
districts within the county which submit project applications
designed to further the educational purposes of this section. The
costs of administration of this section by each county superintendent
of schools shall be paid from the funds allocated to the county
superintendent of schools.
(f) (1) A merchant may detain a person for a reasonable time for
the purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the merchant has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is attempting to unlawfully take or has unlawfully taken
merchandise from the merchant's premises.
A theater owner may detain a person for a reasonable time for the
purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the theater owner has probable cause to believe the person
to be detained is attempting to operate a video recording device
within the premises of a motion picture theater without the authority
of the owner of the theater.
A person employed by a library facility may detain a person for a
reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an investigation in a
reasonable manner whenever the person employed by a library facility
has probable cause to believe the person to be detained is attempting
to unlawfully remove or has unlawfully removed books or library
materials from the premises of the library facility.
(2) In making the detention a merchant, theater owner, or a person
employed by a library facility may use a reasonable amount of
nondeadly force necessary to protect himself or herself and to
prevent escape of the person detained or the loss of tangible or
intangible property.
(3) During the period of detention any items which a merchant or
theater owner, or any items which a person employed by a library
facility has probable cause to believe are unlawfully taken from the
premises of the merchant or library facility, or recorded on theater
premises, and which are in plain view may be examined by the
merchant, theater owner, or person employed by a library facility for
the purposes of ascertaining the ownership thereof.
(4) A merchant, theater owner, a person employed by a library
facility, or an agent thereof, having probable cause to believe the
person detained was attempting to unlawfully take or has taken any
item from the premises, or was attempting to operate a video
recording device within the premises of a motion picture theater
without the authority of the owner of the theater, may request the
person detained to voluntarily surrender the item or recording.
Should the person detained refuse to surrender the recording or item
of which there is probable cause to believe has been recorded on or
unlawfully taken from the premises, or attempted to be recorded or
unlawfully taken from the premises, a limited and reasonable search
may be conducted by those authorized to make the detention in order
to recover the item. Only packages, shopping bags, handbags or other
property in the immediate possession of the person detained, but not
including any clothing worn by the person, may be searched pursuant
to this subdivision. Upon surrender or discovery of the item, the
person detained may also be requested, but may not be required, to
provide adequate proof of his or her true identity.
(5) If any person admitted to a theater in which a motion picture
is to be or is being exhibited, refuses or fails to give or surrender
possession or to cease operation of any video recording device that
the person has brought into or attempts to bring into that theater,
then a theater owner shall have the right to refuse admission to that
person or request that the person leave the premises and shall
thereupon offer to refund and, unless that offer is refused, refund
to that person the price paid by that person for admission to that
theater. If the person thereafter refuses to leave the theater or
cease operation of the video recording device, then the person shall
be deemed to be intentionally interfering with and obstructing those
attempting to carry on a lawful business within the meaning of
Section 602.1.
(6) A peace officer who accepts custody of a person arrested for
an offense contained in this section may, subsequent to the arrest,
search the person arrested and his or her immediate possessions for
any item or items alleged to have been taken.
(7) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a merchant, it shall be a defense to such
action that the merchant detaining or arresting such person had
probable cause to believe that the person had stolen or attempted to
steal merchandise and that the merchant acted reasonably under all
the circumstances.
In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a theater owner or person employed by a
library facility, it shall be a defense to that action that the
theater owner or person employed by a library facility detaining or
arresting that person had probable cause to believe that the person
was attempting to operate a video recording device within the
premises of a motion picture theater without the authority of the
owner of the theater or had stolen or attempted to steal books or
library materials and that the person employed by a library facility
acted reasonably under all the circumstances.
(g) As used in this section:
(1) "Merchandise" means any personal property, capable of manual
delivery, displayed, held or offered for retail sale by a merchant.
(2) "Merchant" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
consignee, employee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the retail purchase or sale of any personal
property capable of manual delivery.
(3) "Theater owner" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
employee, consignee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the exhibition or performance of motion
pictures to the general public.
(4) The terms "book or other library materials" include any book,
plate, picture, photograph, engraving, painting, drawing, map,
newspaper, magazine, pamphlet, broadside, manuscript, document,
letter, public record, microform, sound recording, audiovisual
material in any format, magnetic or other tape, electronic
data-processing record, artifact, or other documentary, written or
printed material regardless of physical form or characteristics, or
any part thereof, belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the
custody of a library facility.
(5) The term "library facility" includes any public library; any
library of an educational, historical or eleemosynary institution,
organization or society; any museum; any repository of public
records.
(h) Any library facility shall post at its entrance and exit a
conspicuous sign to read as follows:
"IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE THEFT OF BOOKS AND LIBRARY MATERIALS,
STATE LAW AUTHORIZES THE DETENTION FOR A REASONABLE PERIOD OF ANY
PERSON USING THESE FACILITIES SUSPECTED OF COMMITTING "LIBRARY THEFT"
(PENAL CODE SECTION 490.5)."
490.6. (a) A person employed by an amusement park may detain a
person for a reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an
investigation in a reasonable manner whenever the person employed by
the amusement park has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is violating lawful amusement park rules.
(b) If any person admitted to an amusement park refuses or fails
to follow lawful amusement park rules, after being so informed, then
an amusement park employee may request that the person either comply
or leave the premises. If the person refuses to leave the premises or
comply with lawful park rules, then the person shall be deemed to be
intentionally interfering with and obstructing those attempting to
carry on a lawful business within the meaning of Section 602.1.
(c) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or an arrest by a person employed by an amusement park, it
shall be a defense to that action that the amusement park employee
detaining or arresting the person had probable cause to believe that
the person was not following lawful amusement park rules and that the
amusement park employee acted reasonably under all the
circumstances.
490.7. (a) The Legislature finds that free newspapers provide a key
source of information to the public, in many cases providing an
important alternative to the news and ideas expressed in other local
media sources. The Legislature further finds that the unauthorized
taking of multiple copies of free newspapers, whether done to sell
them to recycling centers, to injure a business competitor, to
deprive others of the opportunity to read them, or for any other
reason, injures the rights of readers, writers, publishers, and
advertisers, and impoverishes the marketplace of ideas in California.
(b) No person shall take more than twenty-five (25) copies of the
current issue of a free or complimentary newspaper if done with the
intent to do one or more of the following:
(1) Recycle the newspapers for cash or other payment.
(2) Sell or barter the newspaper.
(3) Deprive others of the opportunity to read or enjoy the
newspaper.
(4) Harm a business competitor.
(c) This section does not apply to the owner or operator of the
newsrack in which the copies are placed, the owner or operator of the
property on which the newsrack is placed, the publisher, the
printer, the distributor, the deliverer of the newspaper, or to any
advertiser in that issue, or to any other person who has the express
permission to do so from any of these entities.
(d) Any newspaper publisher may provide express permission to take
more than twenty-five (25) copies of the current issue of a free or
complimentary newspaper by indicating on the newsrack or in the
newspaper itself, that people may take a greater number of copies if
they wish.
(e) A first violation of subdivision (b) shall be an infraction
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
A second or subsequent violation shall be punishable as an infraction
or a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500),
imprisonment of up to 10 days in a county jail, or by both that fine
and imprisonment. The court may order community service in lieu of
the punishment otherwise provided for an infraction or misdemeanor in
the amount of 20 hours for an infraction, and 40 hours for a
misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section shall not
constitute a conviction for petty theft.
(f) This section shall not be construed to repeal, modify, or
weaken any existing legal prohibitions against the taking of private
property.
(g) For purposes of this section, an issue is current if no more
than half of the period of time until the distribution of the next
issue has passed.
491. Dogs are personal property, and their value is to be
ascertained in the same manner as the value of other property.
492. If the thing stolen consists of any evidence of debt, or other
written instrument, the amount of money due thereupon, or secured to
be paid thereby, and remaining unsatisfied, or which in any
contingency might be collected thereon, or the value of the property
the title to which is shown thereby, or the sum which might be
recovered in the absence thereof, is the value of the thing stolen.
493. If the thing stolen is any ticket or other paper or writing
entitling or purporting to entitle the holder or proprietor thereof
to a passage upon any railroad or vessel or other public conveyance,
the price at which tickets entitling a person to a like passage are
usually sold by the proprietors of such conveyance is the value of
such ticket, paper, or writing.
494. All the provisions of this Chapter apply where the property
taken is an instrument for the payment of money, evidence of debt,
public security, or passage ticket, completed and ready to be issued
or delivered, although the same has never been issued or delivered by
the makers thereof to any person as a purchaser or owner.
495. The provisions of this Chapter apply where the thing taken is
any fixture or part of the realty, and is severed at the time of the
taking, in the same manner as if the thing had been severed by
another person at some previous time.
496. (a) Every person who buys or receives any property that has
been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting
theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained,
or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling,
or withholding any property from the owner, knowing the property to
be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment in a
state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
However, if the district attorney or the grand jury determines that
this action would be in the interests of justice, the district
attorney or the grand jury, as the case may be, may, if the value of
the property does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950),
specify in the accusatory pleading that the offense shall be a
misdemeanor, punishable only by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year.
A principal in the actual theft of the property may be convicted
pursuant to this section. However, no person may be convicted both
pursuant to this section and of the theft of the same property.
(b) Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value in excess of
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) that has been stolen or obtained in
any manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be punished by
imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year.
Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value of nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950) or less that has been stolen or obtained in any
manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who has been injured by a violation of subdivision
(a) or (b) may bring an action for three times the amount of actual
damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff, costs of suit, and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 664, any attempt to commit any act
prohibited by this section, except an offense specified in the
accusatory pleading as a misdemeanor, is punishable by imprisonment
in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
496a. (a) Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of junk,
metals or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or
representative of such dealer or collector, buys or receives any
wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron or brass which he
knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by or ordinarily
belongs to a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph,
gas, water or electric light company or county, city, city and county
or other political subdivision of this state engaged in furnishing
public utility service without using due diligence to ascertain that
the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so,
is guilty of criminally receiving such property, and is punishable,
by imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year, or by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person buying or receiving material pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall obtain evidence of his identity from the seller
including, but not limited to, such person's full name, signature,
address, driver's license number, vehicle license number, and the
license number of the vehicle delivering the material.
The record of the transaction shall include an appropriate
description of the material purchased and such record shall be
maintained pursuant to Section 21607 of the Business and Professions
Code.
496b. Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of
second-hand books or other literary material, or the agent, employee
or representative of such dealer, or collector, buys or receives any
book, manuscript, map, chart, or other work of literature, belonging
to, and bearing any mark or indicia of ownership by a public or
incorporated library, college or university, without ascertaining by
diligent inquiry that the person selling or delivering the same has a
legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving such
property in the first degree if such property be of the value of more
than fifty dollars, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county
jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than twice
the value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment; and is guilty of criminally receiving such property in
the second degree if such property be of the value of fifty dollars
or under, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one month, or by a fine of not more than twice the
value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
496c. Any person who shall copy, transcribe, photograph or
otherwise make a record or memorandum of the contents of any private
and unpublished paper, book, record, map or file, containing
information relating to the title to real property or containing
information used in the business of examining, certifying or insuring
titles to real property and belonging to any person, firm or
corporation engaged in the business of examining, certifying, or
insuring titles to real property, without the consent of the owner of
such paper, book, record, map or file, and with the intent to use
the same or the contents thereof, or to dispose of the same or the
contents thereof to others for use, in the business of examining,
certifying, or insuring titles to real property, shall be guilty of
theft, and any person who shall induce another to violate the
provisions of this section by giving, offering, or promising to such
another any gift, gratuity, or thing of value or by doing or
promising to do any act beneficial to such another, shall be guilty
of theft; and any person who shall receive or acquire from another
any copy, transcription, photograph or other record or memorandum of
the contents of any private and unpublished paper, book, record, map
or file containing information relating to the title to real property
or containing information used in the business of examining,
certifying or insuring titles to real property, with the knowledge
that the same or the contents thereof has or have been acquired,
prepared or compiled in violation of this section shall be guilty of
theft. The contents of any such private and unpublished paper, book,
record, map or file is hereby defined to be personal property, and in
determining the value thereof for the purposes of this section the
cost of aquiring and compiling the same shall be the test.
496d. (a) Every person who buys or receives any motor vehicle, as
defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined
in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction
equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any
vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code,
that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner
constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be stolen or
obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing,
selling, or withholding any motor vehicle, trailer, special
construction equipment, or vessel from the owner, knowing the
property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or two or three years
or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both,
or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or a fine
of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the terms "special
construction equipment" and "vessel" are limited to motorized
vehicles and vessels.
496e. Any person who buys or receives, for purposes of salvage, any
part of a fire hydrant or fire department connection, including, but
not limited to, bronze or brass fittings and parts, that has been
stolen or obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion,
knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall, in addition
to any other penalty provided by law, be subject to a criminal fine
of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
497. Every person who, in another state or country steals or
embezzles the property of another, or receives such property knowing
it to have been stolen or embezzled, and brings the same into this
state, may be convicted and punished in the same manner as if such
larceny, or embezzlement, or receiving, had been committed in this
state.
498. (a) The following definitions govern the construction of this
section:
(1) "Person" means any individual, or any partnership, firm,
association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal
entity.
(2) "Utility" means any electrical, gas, or water corporation as
those terms are defined in the Public Utilities Code, and electrical,
gas, or water systems operated by any political subdivision.
(3) "Customer" means the person in whose name utility service is
provided.
(4) "Utility service" means the provision of electricity, gas,
water, or any other service provided by the utility for compensation.
(5) "Divert" means to change the intended course or path of
electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of
the utility.
(6) "Tamper" means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or
otherwise prevent from performing a normal or customary function.
(7) "Reconnection" means the reconnection of utility service by a
customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected
by the utility.
(b) Any person who, with intent to obtain for himself or herself
utility services without paying the full lawful charge therefor, or
with intent to enable another person to do so, or with intent to
deprive any utility of any part of the full lawful charge for utility
services it provides, commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, or abets
any of the following shall be guilty of a misdemeanor:
(1) Diverts or causes to be diverted utility services, by any
means.
(2) Prevents any utility meter, or other device used in
determining the charge for utility services, from accurately
performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means.
(3) Tampers with any property owned by or used by the utility to
provide utility services.
(4) Makes or causes to be made any connection with or reconnection
with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility
services without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(5) Uses or receives the direct benefit of all or a portion of
utility services with knowledge or reason to believe that the
diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time
of that use, or that the use or receipt was otherwise without the
authorization or consent of the utility.
(c) In any prosecution under this section, the presence of any of
the following objects, circumstances, or conditions on premises
controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the
direct benefit of all or a portion of utility services obtained in
violation of this section shall permit an inference that the customer
or person intended to and did violate this section:
(1) Any instrument, apparatus, or device primarily designed to be
used to obtain utility services without paying the full lawful charge
therefor.
(2) Any meter that has been altered, tampered with, or bypassed so
as to cause no measurement or inaccurate measurement of utility
services.
(d) If the value of all utility services obtained in violation of
this section totals more than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or if
the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under this
section or any former section which would be an offense under this
section, or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the
United States which would have been an offense under this section if
committed in this state, then the violation is punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or in the
state prison.
(e) This section shall not be construed to preclude the
applicability of any other provision of the criminal law of this
state.
499. (a) Any person who, having been convicted of a previous
violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, or of subdivision (d)
of Section 487, involving a vehicle or vessel, and having served a
term therefor in any penal institution or having been imprisoned
therein as a condition of probation for the offense, is subsequently
convicted of a violation of Section 499b, involving a vehicle or
vessel, is punishable for the subsequent offense by imprisonment in
the county jail not exceeding one year or the state prison for 16
months, two, or three years.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of Section 499b, who has
been previously convicted under charges separately brought and tried
two or more times of a violation of Section 499b, all such violations
involving a vehicle or vessel, and who has been imprisoned therefore
as a condition of probation or otherwise at least once, is
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one
year or in the state prison for 16 months, two, or three years.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1997.
499b. (a) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any bicycle for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400), or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding three months, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any vessel for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
499c. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Access" means to approach, a way or means of approaching,
nearing, admittance to, including to instruct, communicate with,
store information in, or retrieve information from a computer system
or computer network.
(2) "Article" means any object, material, device, or substance or
copy thereof, including any writing, record, recording, drawing,
sample, specimen, prototype, model, photograph, micro-organism,
blueprint, map, or tangible representation of a computer program or
information, including both human and computer readable information
and information while in transit.
(3) "Benefit" means gain or advantage, or anything regarded by the
beneficiary as gain or advantage, including benefit to any other
person or entity in whose welfare he or she is interested.
(4) "Computer system" means a machine or collection of machines,
one or more of which contain computer programs and information, that
performs functions, including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic,
information storage and retrieval, communications, and control.
(5) "Computer network" means an interconnection of two or more
computer systems.
(6) "Computer program" means an ordered set of instructions or
statements, and related information that, when automatically executed
in actual or modified form in a computer system, causes it to
perform specified functions.
(7) "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph or other
reproduction of an article, and any note, drawing or sketch made of
or from an article.
(8) "Representing" means describing, depicting, containing,
constituting, reflecting or recording.
(9) "Trade secret" means information, including a formula,
pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process,
that:
(A) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from
not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can
obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(B) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the
circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
(b) Every person is guilty of theft who, with intent to deprive or
withhold the control of a trade secret from its owner, or with an
intent to appropriate a trade secret to his or her own use or to the
use of another, does any of the following:
(1) Steals, takes, carries away, or uses without authorization, a
trade secret.
(2) Fraudulently appropriates any article representing a trade
secret entrusted to him or her.
(3) Having unlawfully obtained access to the article, without
authority makes or causes to be made a copy of any article
representing a trade secret.
(4) Having obtained access to the article through a relationship
of trust and confidence, without authority and in breach of the
obligations created by that relationship, makes or causes to be made,
directly from and in the presence of the article, a copy of any
article representing a trade secret.
(c) Every person who promises, offers or gives, or conspires to
promise or offer to give, to any present or former agent, employee or
servant of another, a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for
conveying, delivering or otherwise making available an article
representing a trade secret owned by his or her present or former
principal, employer or master, to any person not authorized by the
owner to receive or acquire the trade secret and every present or
former agent, employee, or servant, who solicits, accepts, receives
or takes a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for conveying,
delivering or otherwise making available an article representing a
trade secret owned by his or her present or former principal,
employer or master, to any person not authorized by the owner to
receive or acquire the trade secret, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding
one year, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000),
or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(d) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, it shall be
no defense that the person returned or intended to return the
article.
499d. Any person who operates or takes an aircraft not his own,
without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent to either
permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his title to
or possession of such vehicle, whether with or without intent to
steal the same, or any person who is a party or accessory to or an
accomplice in any operation or unauthorized taking or stealing is
guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail for not more
than one year or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment.
500. (a) Any person who receives money for the actual or purported
purpose of transmitting the same or its equivalent to foreign
countries as specified in Section 1800.5 of the Financial Code who
fails to do at least one of the following acts unless otherwise
instructed by the customer is guilty of a misdemeanor or felony as
set forth in subdivision (b):
(1) Forward the money as represented to the customer within 10
days of receipt of the funds.
(2) Give instructions within 10 days of receipt of the customer's
funds, committing equivalent funds to the person designated by the
customer.
(3) Refund to the customer any money not forwarded as represented
within 10 days of the customer's written request for a refund
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1810.5 of the Financial Code.
(b) (1) If the total value of the funds received from the customer
is less than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), the offense set
forth in subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(2) If the total value of the money received from the customer is
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, or if the total value of
all moneys received by the person from different customers is nine
hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, and the receipts were part of a
common scheme or plan, the offense set forth in subdivision (a) is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3
years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
both that imprisonment and fine.
501. Upon a trial for larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes,
certificates of stock, or valuable securities, the allegation of the
indictment or information, so far as regards the description of the
property, is sustained, if the offender be proved to have embezzled
or stolen any money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable
security, although the particular species of coin or other money, or
the number, denomination, or kind of bank notes, certificates of
stock, or valuable security, is not proved; and upon a trial for
embezzlement, if the offender is proved to have embezzled any piece
of coin or other money, any bank note, certificate of stock, or
valuable security, although the piece of coin or other money, or bank
note, certificate of stock, or valuable security, may have been
delivered to him or her in order that some part of the value thereof
should be returned to the party delivering the same, and such part
shall have been returned accordingly.
502. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to expand the degree of protection afforded to individuals,
businesses, and governmental agencies from tampering, interference,
damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and
computer systems. The Legislature finds and declares that the
proliferation of computer technology has resulted in a concomitant
proliferation of computer crime and other forms of unauthorized
access to computers, computer systems, and computer data.
The Legislature further finds and declares that protection of the
integrity of all types and forms of lawfully created computers,
computer systems, and computer data is vital to the protection of the
privacy of individuals as well as to the well-being of financial
institutions, business concerns, governmental agencies, and others
within this state that lawfully utilize those computers, computer
systems, and data.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Access" means to gain entry to, instruct, or communicate with
the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(2) "Computer network" means any system that provides
communications between one or more computer systems and input/output
devices including, but not limited to, display terminals and printers
connected by telecommunication facilities.
(3) "Computer program or software" means a set of instructions or
statements, and related data, that when executed in actual or
modified form, cause a computer, computer system, or computer network
to perform specified functions.
(4) "Computer services" includes, but is not limited to, computer
time, data processing, or storage functions, or other uses of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(5) "Computer system" means a device or collection of devices,
including support devices and excluding calculators that are not
programmable and capable of being used in conjunction with external
files, one or more of which contain computer programs, electronic
instructions, input data, and output data, that performs functions
including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic, data storage and
retrieval, communication, and control.
(6) "Data" means a representation of information, knowledge,
facts, concepts, computer software, computer programs or
instructions. Data may be in any form, in storage media, or as stored
in the memory of the computer or in transit or presented on a
display device.
(7) "Supporting documentation" includes, but is not limited to,
all information, in any form, pertaining to the design, construction,
classification, implementation, use, or modification of a computer,
computer system, computer network, computer program, or computer
software, which information is not generally available to the public
and is necessary for the operation of a computer, computer system,
computer network, computer program, or computer software.
(8) "Injury" means any alteration, deletion, damage, or
destruction of a computer system, computer network, computer program,
or data caused by the access, or the denial of access to legitimate
users of a computer system, network, or program.
(9) "Victim expenditure" means any expenditure reasonably and
necessarily incurred by the owner or lessee to verify that a computer
system, computer network, computer program, or data was or was not
altered, deleted, damaged, or destroyed by the access.
(10) "Computer contaminant" means any set of computer instructions
that are designed to modify, damage, destroy, record, or transmit
information within a computer, computer system, or computer network
without the intent or permission of the owner of the information.
They include, but are not limited to, a group of computer
instructions commonly called viruses or worms, that are
self-replicating or self-propagating and are designed to contaminate
other computer programs or computer data, consume computer resources,
modify, destroy, record, or transmit data, or in some other fashion
usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer system, or
computer network.
(11) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique, hierarchical
reference to an Internet host or service, assigned through
centralized Internet naming authorities, comprising a series of
character strings separated by periods, with the rightmost character
string specifying the top of the hierarchy.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), any person who commits
any of the following acts is guilty of a public offense:
(1) Knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages,
deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer
system, or computer network in order to either (A) devise or execute
any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort, or (B)
wrongfully
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.
(b) Upon conviction of the offense described in subdivision (a),
the court may require, in addition to any sentence or fine imposed,
that the defendant make restitution to the pawnbroker or secondhand
dealer in an amount not exceeding the actual losses sustained
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 13967 of the
Government Code, as operative on or before September 28, 1994, if
the defendant is denied probation, or Section 1203.04, as operative
on or before August 2, 1995, if the defendant is granted probation or
Section 1202.4.
(c) Upon the setting of a court hearing date for sentencing of any
person convicted under this section, the probation officer, if one
is assigned, shall notify the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or coin
dealer of the time and place of the hearing.
484b. Any person who receives money for the purpose of obtaining or
paying for services, labor, materials or equipment and willfully
fails to apply such money for such purpose by either willfully
failing to complete the improvements for which funds were provided or
willfully failing to pay for services, labor, materials or equipment
provided incident to such construction, and wrongfully diverts the
funds to a use other than that for which the funds were received,
shall be guilty of a public offense and shall be punishable by a fine
not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in
the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
both that fine and that imprisonment if the amount diverted is in
excess of two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350). If the
amount diverted is less than or equal to two thousand three hundred
fifty dollars ($2,350), the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
484c. Any person who submits a false voucher to obtain construction
loan funds and does not use the funds for the purpose for which the
claim was submitted is guilty of embezzlement.
484d. As used in this section and Sections 484e to 484j, inclusive:
(1) "Cardholder" means any person to whom an access card is issued
or any person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay obligations
arising from the issuance of an access card to another person.
(2) "Access card" means any card, plate, code, account number, or
other means of account access that can be used, alone or in
conjunction with another access card, to obtain money, goods,
services, or any other thing of value, or that can be used to
initiate a transfer of funds, other than a transfer originated solely
by a paper instrument.
(3) "Expired access card" means an access card which shows on its
face it has elapsed.
(4) "Card issuer" means any person who issues an access card or
the agent of that person with respect to that card.
(5) "Retailer" means every person who is authorized by an issuer
to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon
presentation of an access card by a cardholder.
(6) An access card is "incomplete" if part of the matter other
than the signature of the cardholder which an issuer requires to
appear on the access card before it can be used by a cardholder has
not been stamped, embossed, imprinted, or written on it.
(7) "Revoked access card" means an access card which is no longer
authorized for use by the issuer, that authorization having been
suspended or terminated and written notice thereof having been given
to the cardholder.
(8) "Counterfeit access card" means any access card that is
counterfeit, fictitious, altered, or forged, or any false
representation or depiction of an access card or a component thereof.
(9) "Traffic" means to transfer or otherwise dispose of property
to another, or to obtain control of property with intent to transfer
or dispose of it to another.
(10) "Card making equipment" means any equipment, machine, plate,
mechanism, impression, or other device designed, used, or intended to
be used to produce an access card.
484e. (a) Every person who, with intent to defraud, sells,
transfers, or conveys, an access card, without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person, other than the issuer, who within any
consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the
names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were
taken or retained under circumstances which constitute a violation
of subdivision (a), (c), or (d) is guilty of grand theft.
(c) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires or
retains possession of an access card without the cardholder's or
issuer's consent, with intent to use, sell, or transfer it to a
person other than the cardholder or issuer is guilty of petty theft.
(d) Every person who acquires or retains possession of access card
account information with respect to an access card validly issued to
another person, without the cardholder's or issuer's consent, with
the intent to use it fraudulently, is guilty of grand theft.
484f. (a) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, designs,
makes, alters, or embosses a counterfeit access card or utters or
otherwise attempts to use a counterfeit access card is guilty of
forgery.
(b) A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by
him or her who, with the intent to defraud, signs the name of another
or of a fictitious person to an access card, sales slip, sales
draft, or instrument for the payment of money which evidences an
access card transaction, is guilty of forgery.
484g. Every person who, with the intent to defraud, (a) uses, for
the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of
value, an access card or access card account information that has
been altered, obtained, or retained in violation of Section 484e or
484f, or an access card which he or she knows is forged, expired, or
revoked, or (b) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of
value by representing without the consent of the cardholder that he
or she is the holder of an access card and the card has not in fact
been issued, is guilty of theft. If the value of all money, goods,
services, and other things of value obtained in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
484h. Every retailer or other person who, with intent to defraud:
(a) Furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value
upon presentation of an access card obtained or retained in violation
of Section 484e or an access card which he or she knows is a
counterfeit access card or is forged, expired, or revoked, and who
receives any payment therefor, is guilty of theft. If the payment
received by the retailer or other person for all money, goods,
services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this
section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive
six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.
(b) Presents for payment a sales slip or other evidence of an
access card transaction, and receives payment therefor, without
furnishing in the transaction money, goods, services, or anything
else of value that is equal in value to the amount of the sales slip
or other evidence of an access card transaction, is guilty of theft.
If the difference between the value of all money, goods, services,
and anything else of value actually furnished and the payment or
payments received by the retailer or other person therefor upon
presentation of a sales slip or other evidence of an access card
transaction exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any
consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand
theft.
484i. (a) Every person who possesses an incomplete access card,
with intent to complete it without the consent of the issuer, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, makes, alters,
varies, changes, or modifies access card account information on any
part of an access card, including information encoded in a magnetic
stripe or other medium on the access card not directly readable by
the human eye, or who authorizes or consents to alteration, variance,
change, or modification of access card account information by
another, in a manner that causes transactions initiated by that
access card to be charged or billed to a person other than the
cardholder to whom the access card was issued, is guilty of forgery.
(c) Every person who designs, makes, possesses, or traffics in
card making equipment or incomplete access cards with the intent that
the equipment or cards be used to make counterfeit access cards, is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
484j. Any person who publishes the number or code of an existing,
canceled, revoked, expired or nonexistent access card, personal
identification number, computer password, access code, debit card
number, bank account number, or the numbering or coding which is
employed in the issuance of access cards, with the intent that it be
used or with knowledge or reason to believe that it will be used to
avoid the payment of any lawful charge, or with intent to defraud or
aid another in defrauding, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in
this section, "publishes" means the communication of information to
any one or more persons, either orally, in person or by telephone,
radio or television, or on a computer network or computer bulletin
board, or in a writing of any kind, including without limitation a
letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine
article, or book.
485. One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft.
486. Theft is divided into two degrees, the first of which is
termed grand theft; the second, petty theft.
487. Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:
(a) When the money, labor, or real 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, or real or personal property is taken
by a servant, agent, or employee from his or her 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, horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any
caprine animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt,
barrow, or pig.
(2) A firearm.
487a. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport
or carry the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine
animal or of any mule, jack or jenny, which is the personal property
of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate such property
which has been entrusted to him, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport, or
carry any portion of the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine,
ovine, or suine animal or of any mule, jack, or jenny, which has been
killed without the consent of the owner thereof, is guilty of grand
theft.
487b. Every person who converts real estate of the value of two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so, steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of grand
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487c. Every person who converts real estate of the value of less
than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) into personal property by
severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do
so steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of petty
theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
487d. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, and carries away,
or attempts to take, steal, and carry from any mining claim, tunnel,
sluice, undercurrent, riffle box, or sulfurate machine, another's
gold dust, amalgam, or quicksilver is guilty of grand theft and is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
487e. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of grand theft.
487f. Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a
dog of another which is of a value not exceeding nine hundred fifty
dollars ($950) is guilty of petty theft.
487g. Every person who steals or maliciously takes or carries away
any animal of another for purposes of sale, medical research,
slaughter, or other commercial use, or who knowingly, by any false
representation or pretense, defrauds another person of any animal for
purposes of sale, medical research, slaughter, or other commercial
use is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.
487h. (a) Every person who steals, takes, or carries away cargo of
another, if the cargo taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in Sections 487, 487a, and
487d, is guilty of grand theft.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "cargo" means any goods,
wares, products, or manufactured merchandise that has been loaded
into a trailer, railcar, or cargo container, awaiting or in transit.
487i. Any person who defrauds a housing program of a public housing
authority of more than four hundred dollars ($400) is guilty of
grand theft.
488. Theft in other cases is petty theft.
489. Grand theft is punishable as follows:
(a) When the grand theft involves the theft of a firearm, by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years.
(b) In all other cases, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year or in the state prison.
490. Petty theft is punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding
six months, or both.
490a. Wherever any law or statute of this state refers to or
mentions larceny, embezzlement, or stealing, said law or statute
shall hereafter be read and interpreted as if the word "theft" were
substituted therefor.
490.1. (a) Petty theft, where the value of the money, labor, real
or personal property taken is of a value which does not exceed fifty
dollars ($50), may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at
the discretion of the prosecutor, provided that the person charged
with the offense has no other theft or theft-related conviction.
(b) Any offense charged as an infraction under this section shall
be subject to the provisions of subdivision (d) of Section 17 and
Sections 19.6 and 19.7.
A violation which is an infraction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
490.5. (a) Upon a first conviction for petty theft involving
merchandise taken from a merchant's premises or a book or other
library materials taken from a library facility, a person shall be
punished by a mandatory fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and
not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such violation;
and may also be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, not
exceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) When an unemancipated minor's willful conduct would constitute
petty theft involving merchandise taken from a merchant's premises
or a book or other library materials taken from a library facility,
any merchant or library facility who has been injured by that conduct
may bring a civil action against the parent or legal guardian having
control and custody of the minor. For the purposes of those actions
the misconduct of the unemancipated minor shall be imputed to the
parent or legal guardian having control and custody of the minor. The
parent or legal guardian having control or custody of an
unemancipated minor whose conduct violates this subdivision shall be
jointly and severally liable with the minor to a merchant or to a
library facility for damages of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor
more than five hundred dollars ($500), plus costs. In addition to
the foregoing damages, the parent or legal guardian shall be jointly
and severally liable with the minor to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in a merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. Recovery of these damages may be had
in addition to, and is not limited by, any other provision of law
which limits the liability of a parent or legal guardian for the
tortious conduct of a minor. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of that
court, or in any other appropriate court; however, total damages,
including the value of the merchandise or book or other library
materials, shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each
action brought under this section.
The provisions of this subdivision are in addition to other civil
remedies and do not limit merchants or other persons to elect to
pursue other civil remedies, except that the provisions of Section
1714.1 of the Civil Code shall not apply herein.
(c) When an adult or emancipated minor has unlawfully taken
merchandise from a merchant's premises, or a book or other library
materials from a library facility, the adult or emancipated minor
shall be liable to the merchant or library facility for damages of
not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred dollars
($500), plus costs. In addition to the foregoing damages, the adult
or emancipated minor shall be liable to the merchant for the retail
value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in merchantable
condition, or to a library facility for the fair market value of its
book or other library materials. An action for recovery of damages,
pursuant to this subdivision, may be brought in small claims court if
the total damages do not exceed the jurisdictional limit of such
court, or in any other appropriate court. The provisions of this
subdivision are in addition to other civil remedies and do not limit
merchants or other persons to elect to pursue other civil remedies.
(d) In lieu of the fines prescribed by subdivision (a), any person
may be required to perform public services designated by the court,
provided that in no event shall any such person be required to
perform less than the number of hours of such public service
necessary to satisfy the fine assessed by the court as provided by
subdivision (a) at the minimum wage prevailing in the state at the
time of sentencing.
(e) All fines collected under this section shall be collected and
distributed in accordance with Sections 1463 and 1463.1 of the Penal
Code; provided, however, that a county may, by a majority vote of the
members of its board of supervisors, allocate any amount up to, but
not exceeding 50 percent of such fines to the county superintendent
of schools for allocation to local school districts. The fines
allocated shall be administered by the county superintendent of
schools to finance public school programs, which provide counseling
or other educational services designed to discourage shoplifting,
theft, and burglary. Subject to rules and regulations as may be
adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, each county
superintendent of schools shall allocate such funds to school
districts within the county which submit project applications
designed to further the educational purposes of this section. The
costs of administration of this section by each county superintendent
of schools shall be paid from the funds allocated to the county
superintendent of schools.
(f) (1) A merchant may detain a person for a reasonable time for
the purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the merchant has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is attempting to unlawfully take or has unlawfully taken
merchandise from the merchant's premises.
A theater owner may detain a person for a reasonable time for the
purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner
whenever the theater owner has probable cause to believe the person
to be detained is attempting to operate a video recording device
within the premises of a motion picture theater without the authority
of the owner of the theater.
A person employed by a library facility may detain a person for a
reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an investigation in a
reasonable manner whenever the person employed by a library facility
has probable cause to believe the person to be detained is attempting
to unlawfully remove or has unlawfully removed books or library
materials from the premises of the library facility.
(2) In making the detention a merchant, theater owner, or a person
employed by a library facility may use a reasonable amount of
nondeadly force necessary to protect himself or herself and to
prevent escape of the person detained or the loss of tangible or
intangible property.
(3) During the period of detention any items which a merchant or
theater owner, or any items which a person employed by a library
facility has probable cause to believe are unlawfully taken from the
premises of the merchant or library facility, or recorded on theater
premises, and which are in plain view may be examined by the
merchant, theater owner, or person employed by a library facility for
the purposes of ascertaining the ownership thereof.
(4) A merchant, theater owner, a person employed by a library
facility, or an agent thereof, having probable cause to believe the
person detained was attempting to unlawfully take or has taken any
item from the premises, or was attempting to operate a video
recording device within the premises of a motion picture theater
without the authority of the owner of the theater, may request the
person detained to voluntarily surrender the item or recording.
Should the person detained refuse to surrender the recording or item
of which there is probable cause to believe has been recorded on or
unlawfully taken from the premises, or attempted to be recorded or
unlawfully taken from the premises, a limited and reasonable search
may be conducted by those authorized to make the detention in order
to recover the item. Only packages, shopping bags, handbags or other
property in the immediate possession of the person detained, but not
including any clothing worn by the person, may be searched pursuant
to this subdivision. Upon surrender or discovery of the item, the
person detained may also be requested, but may not be required, to
provide adequate proof of his or her true identity.
(5) If any person admitted to a theater in which a motion picture
is to be or is being exhibited, refuses or fails to give or surrender
possession or to cease operation of any video recording device that
the person has brought into or attempts to bring into that theater,
then a theater owner shall have the right to refuse admission to that
person or request that the person leave the premises and shall
thereupon offer to refund and, unless that offer is refused, refund
to that person the price paid by that person for admission to that
theater. If the person thereafter refuses to leave the theater or
cease operation of the video recording device, then the person shall
be deemed to be intentionally interfering with and obstructing those
attempting to carry on a lawful business within the meaning of
Section 602.1.
(6) A peace officer who accepts custody of a person arrested for
an offense contained in this section may, subsequent to the arrest,
search the person arrested and his or her immediate possessions for
any item or items alleged to have been taken.
(7) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a merchant, it shall be a defense to such
action that the merchant detaining or arresting such person had
probable cause to believe that the person had stolen or attempted to
steal merchandise and that the merchant acted reasonably under all
the circumstances.
In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or arrest by a theater owner or person employed by a
library facility, it shall be a defense to that action that the
theater owner or person employed by a library facility detaining or
arresting that person had probable cause to believe that the person
was attempting to operate a video recording device within the
premises of a motion picture theater without the authority of the
owner of the theater or had stolen or attempted to steal books or
library materials and that the person employed by a library facility
acted reasonably under all the circumstances.
(g) As used in this section:
(1) "Merchandise" means any personal property, capable of manual
delivery, displayed, held or offered for retail sale by a merchant.
(2) "Merchant" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
consignee, employee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the retail purchase or sale of any personal
property capable of manual delivery.
(3) "Theater owner" means an owner or operator, and the agent,
employee, consignee, lessee, or officer of an owner or operator, of
any premises used for the exhibition or performance of motion
pictures to the general public.
(4) The terms "book or other library materials" include any book,
plate, picture, photograph, engraving, painting, drawing, map,
newspaper, magazine, pamphlet, broadside, manuscript, document,
letter, public record, microform, sound recording, audiovisual
material in any format, magnetic or other tape, electronic
data-processing record, artifact, or other documentary, written or
printed material regardless of physical form or characteristics, or
any part thereof, belonging to, on loan to, or otherwise in the
custody of a library facility.
(5) The term "library facility" includes any public library; any
library of an educational, historical or eleemosynary institution,
organization or society; any museum; any repository of public
records.
(h) Any library facility shall post at its entrance and exit a
conspicuous sign to read as follows:
"IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE THEFT OF BOOKS AND LIBRARY MATERIALS,
STATE LAW AUTHORIZES THE DETENTION FOR A REASONABLE PERIOD OF ANY
PERSON USING THESE FACILITIES SUSPECTED OF COMMITTING "LIBRARY THEFT"
(PENAL CODE SECTION 490.5)."
490.6. (a) A person employed by an amusement park may detain a
person for a reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an
investigation in a reasonable manner whenever the person employed by
the amusement park has probable cause to believe the person to be
detained is violating lawful amusement park rules.
(b) If any person admitted to an amusement park refuses or fails
to follow lawful amusement park rules, after being so informed, then
an amusement park employee may request that the person either comply
or leave the premises. If the person refuses to leave the premises or
comply with lawful park rules, then the person shall be deemed to be
intentionally interfering with and obstructing those attempting to
carry on a lawful business within the meaning of Section 602.1.
(c) In any civil action brought by any person resulting from a
detention or an arrest by a person employed by an amusement park, it
shall be a defense to that action that the amusement park employee
detaining or arresting the person had probable cause to believe that
the person was not following lawful amusement park rules and that the
amusement park employee acted reasonably under all the
circumstances.
490.7. (a) The Legislature finds that free newspapers provide a key
source of information to the public, in many cases providing an
important alternative to the news and ideas expressed in other local
media sources. The Legislature further finds that the unauthorized
taking of multiple copies of free newspapers, whether done to sell
them to recycling centers, to injure a business competitor, to
deprive others of the opportunity to read them, or for any other
reason, injures the rights of readers, writers, publishers, and
advertisers, and impoverishes the marketplace of ideas in California.
(b) No person shall take more than twenty-five (25) copies of the
current issue of a free or complimentary newspaper if done with the
intent to do one or more of the following:
(1) Recycle the newspapers for cash or other payment.
(2) Sell or barter the newspaper.
(3) Deprive others of the opportunity to read or enjoy the
newspaper.
(4) Harm a business competitor.
(c) This section does not apply to the owner or operator of the
newsrack in which the copies are placed, the owner or operator of the
property on which the newsrack is placed, the publisher, the
printer, the distributor, the deliverer of the newspaper, or to any
advertiser in that issue, or to any other person who has the express
permission to do so from any of these entities.
(d) Any newspaper publisher may provide express permission to take
more than twenty-five (25) copies of the current issue of a free or
complimentary newspaper by indicating on the newsrack or in the
newspaper itself, that people may take a greater number of copies if
they wish.
(e) A first violation of subdivision (b) shall be an infraction
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
A second or subsequent violation shall be punishable as an infraction
or a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500),
imprisonment of up to 10 days in a county jail, or by both that fine
and imprisonment. The court may order community service in lieu of
the punishment otherwise provided for an infraction or misdemeanor in
the amount of 20 hours for an infraction, and 40 hours for a
misdemeanor. A misdemeanor conviction under this section shall not
constitute a conviction for petty theft.
(f) This section shall not be construed to repeal, modify, or
weaken any existing legal prohibitions against the taking of private
property.
(g) For purposes of this section, an issue is current if no more
than half of the period of time until the distribution of the next
issue has passed.
491. Dogs are personal property, and their value is to be
ascertained in the same manner as the value of other property.
492. If the thing stolen consists of any evidence of debt, or other
written instrument, the amount of money due thereupon, or secured to
be paid thereby, and remaining unsatisfied, or which in any
contingency might be collected thereon, or the value of the property
the title to which is shown thereby, or the sum which might be
recovered in the absence thereof, is the value of the thing stolen.
493. If the thing stolen is any ticket or other paper or writing
entitling or purporting to entitle the holder or proprietor thereof
to a passage upon any railroad or vessel or other public conveyance,
the price at which tickets entitling a person to a like passage are
usually sold by the proprietors of such conveyance is the value of
such ticket, paper, or writing.
494. All the provisions of this Chapter apply where the property
taken is an instrument for the payment of money, evidence of debt,
public security, or passage ticket, completed and ready to be issued
or delivered, although the same has never been issued or delivered by
the makers thereof to any person as a purchaser or owner.
495. The provisions of this Chapter apply where the thing taken is
any fixture or part of the realty, and is severed at the time of the
taking, in the same manner as if the thing had been severed by
another person at some previous time.
496. (a) Every person who buys or receives any property that has
been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting
theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained,
or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling,
or withholding any property from the owner, knowing the property to
be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment in a
state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
However, if the district attorney or the grand jury determines that
this action would be in the interests of justice, the district
attorney or the grand jury, as the case may be, may, if the value of
the property does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950),
specify in the accusatory pleading that the offense shall be a
misdemeanor, punishable only by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year.
A principal in the actual theft of the property may be convicted
pursuant to this section. However, no person may be convicted both
pursuant to this section and of the theft of the same property.
(b) Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value in excess of
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) that has been stolen or obtained in
any manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be punished by
imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year.
Every swap meet vendor, as defined in Section 21661 of the
Business and Professions Code, and every person whose principal
business is dealing in, or collecting, merchandise or personal
property, and every agent, employee, or representative of that
person, who buys or receives any property of a value of nine hundred
fifty dollars ($950) or less that has been stolen or obtained in any
manner constituting theft or extortion, under circumstances that
should cause the person, agent, employee, or representative to make
reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom the
property was bought or received had the legal right to sell or
deliver it, without making a reasonable inquiry, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who has been injured by a violation of subdivision
(a) or (b) may bring an action for three times the amount of actual
damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff, costs of suit, and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 664, any attempt to commit any act
prohibited by this section, except an offense specified in the
accusatory pleading as a misdemeanor, is punishable by imprisonment
in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.
496a. (a) Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of junk,
metals or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or
representative of such dealer or collector, buys or receives any
wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron or brass which he
knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by or ordinarily
belongs to a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph,
gas, water or electric light company or county, city, city and county
or other political subdivision of this state engaged in furnishing
public utility service without using due diligence to ascertain that
the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so,
is guilty of criminally receiving such property, and is punishable,
by imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more
than one year, or by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person buying or receiving material pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall obtain evidence of his identity from the seller
including, but not limited to, such person's full name, signature,
address, driver's license number, vehicle license number, and the
license number of the vehicle delivering the material.
The record of the transaction shall include an appropriate
description of the material purchased and such record shall be
maintained pursuant to Section 21607 of the Business and Professions
Code.
496b. Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of
second-hand books or other literary material, or the agent, employee
or representative of such dealer, or collector, buys or receives any
book, manuscript, map, chart, or other work of literature, belonging
to, and bearing any mark or indicia of ownership by a public or
incorporated library, college or university, without ascertaining by
diligent inquiry that the person selling or delivering the same has a
legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving such
property in the first degree if such property be of the value of more
than fifty dollars, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county
jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than twice
the value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment; and is guilty of criminally receiving such property in
the second degree if such property be of the value of fifty dollars
or under, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one month, or by a fine of not more than twice the
value of the property received, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
496c. Any person who shall copy, transcribe, photograph or
otherwise make a record or memorandum of the contents of any private
and unpublished paper, book, record, map or file, containing
information relating to the title to real property or containing
information used in the business of examining, certifying or insuring
titles to real property and belonging to any person, firm or
corporation engaged in the business of examining, certifying, or
insuring titles to real property, without the consent of the owner of
such paper, book, record, map or file, and with the intent to use
the same or the contents thereof, or to dispose of the same or the
contents thereof to others for use, in the business of examining,
certifying, or insuring titles to real property, shall be guilty of
theft, and any person who shall induce another to violate the
provisions of this section by giving, offering, or promising to such
another any gift, gratuity, or thing of value or by doing or
promising to do any act beneficial to such another, shall be guilty
of theft; and any person who shall receive or acquire from another
any copy, transcription, photograph or other record or memorandum of
the contents of any private and unpublished paper, book, record, map
or file containing information relating to the title to real property
or containing information used in the business of examining,
certifying or insuring titles to real property, with the knowledge
that the same or the contents thereof has or have been acquired,
prepared or compiled in violation of this section shall be guilty of
theft. The contents of any such private and unpublished paper, book,
record, map or file is hereby defined to be personal property, and in
determining the value thereof for the purposes of this section the
cost of aquiring and compiling the same shall be the test.
496d. (a) Every person who buys or receives any motor vehicle, as
defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined
in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction
equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any
vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code,
that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner
constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be stolen or
obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing,
selling, or withholding any motor vehicle, trailer, special
construction equipment, or vessel from the owner, knowing the
property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or two or three years
or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both,
or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or a fine
of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the terms "special
construction equipment" and "vessel" are limited to motorized
vehicles and vessels.
496e. Any person who buys or receives, for purposes of salvage, any
part of a fire hydrant or fire department connection, including, but
not limited to, bronze or brass fittings and parts, that has been
stolen or obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion,
knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall, in addition
to any other penalty provided by law, be subject to a criminal fine
of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
497. Every person who, in another state or country steals or
embezzles the property of another, or receives such property knowing
it to have been stolen or embezzled, and brings the same into this
state, may be convicted and punished in the same manner as if such
larceny, or embezzlement, or receiving, had been committed in this
state.
498. (a) The following definitions govern the construction of this
section:
(1) "Person" means any individual, or any partnership, firm,
association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal
entity.
(2) "Utility" means any electrical, gas, or water corporation as
those terms are defined in the Public Utilities Code, and electrical,
gas, or water systems operated by any political subdivision.
(3) "Customer" means the person in whose name utility service is
provided.
(4) "Utility service" means the provision of electricity, gas,
water, or any other service provided by the utility for compensation.
(5) "Divert" means to change the intended course or path of
electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of
the utility.
(6) "Tamper" means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or
otherwise prevent from performing a normal or customary function.
(7) "Reconnection" means the reconnection of utility service by a
customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected
by the utility.
(b) Any person who, with intent to obtain for himself or herself
utility services without paying the full lawful charge therefor, or
with intent to enable another person to do so, or with intent to
deprive any utility of any part of the full lawful charge for utility
services it provides, commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, or abets
any of the following shall be guilty of a misdemeanor:
(1) Diverts or causes to be diverted utility services, by any
means.
(2) Prevents any utility meter, or other device used in
determining the charge for utility services, from accurately
performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means.
(3) Tampers with any property owned by or used by the utility to
provide utility services.
(4) Makes or causes to be made any connection with or reconnection
with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility
services without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(5) Uses or receives the direct benefit of all or a portion of
utility services with knowledge or reason to believe that the
diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time
of that use, or that the use or receipt was otherwise without the
authorization or consent of the utility.
(c) In any prosecution under this section, the presence of any of
the following objects, circumstances, or conditions on premises
controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the
direct benefit of all or a portion of utility services obtained in
violation of this section shall permit an inference that the customer
or person intended to and did violate this section:
(1) Any instrument, apparatus, or device primarily designed to be
used to obtain utility services without paying the full lawful charge
therefor.
(2) Any meter that has been altered, tampered with, or bypassed so
as to cause no measurement or inaccurate measurement of utility
services.
(d) If the value of all utility services obtained in violation of
this section totals more than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or if
the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under this
section or any former section which would be an offense under this
section, or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the
United States which would have been an offense under this section if
committed in this state, then the violation is punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or in the
state prison.
(e) This section shall not be construed to preclude the
applicability of any other provision of the criminal law of this
state.
499. (a) Any person who, having been convicted of a previous
violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, or of subdivision (d)
of Section 487, involving a vehicle or vessel, and having served a
term therefor in any penal institution or having been imprisoned
therein as a condition of probation for the offense, is subsequently
convicted of a violation of Section 499b, involving a vehicle or
vessel, is punishable for the subsequent offense by imprisonment in
the county jail not exceeding one year or the state prison for 16
months, two, or three years.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of Section 499b, who has
been previously convicted under charges separately brought and tried
two or more times of a violation of Section 499b, all such violations
involving a vehicle or vessel, and who has been imprisoned therefore
as a condition of probation or otherwise at least once, is
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one
year or in the state prison for 16 months, two, or three years.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1997.
499b. (a) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any bicycle for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400), or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding three months, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner
thereof, take any vessel for the purpose of temporarily using or
operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
499c. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Access" means to approach, a way or means of approaching,
nearing, admittance to, including to instruct, communicate with,
store information in, or retrieve information from a computer system
or computer network.
(2) "Article" means any object, material, device, or substance or
copy thereof, including any writing, record, recording, drawing,
sample, specimen, prototype, model, photograph, micro-organism,
blueprint, map, or tangible representation of a computer program or
information, including both human and computer readable information
and information while in transit.
(3) "Benefit" means gain or advantage, or anything regarded by the
beneficiary as gain or advantage, including benefit to any other
person or entity in whose welfare he or she is interested.
(4) "Computer system" means a machine or collection of machines,
one or more of which contain computer programs and information, that
performs functions, including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic,
information storage and retrieval, communications, and control.
(5) "Computer network" means an interconnection of two or more
computer systems.
(6) "Computer program" means an ordered set of instructions or
statements, and related information that, when automatically executed
in actual or modified form in a computer system, causes it to
perform specified functions.
(7) "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph or other
reproduction of an article, and any note, drawing or sketch made of
or from an article.
(8) "Representing" means describing, depicting, containing,
constituting, reflecting or recording.
(9) "Trade secret" means information, including a formula,
pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process,
that:
(A) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from
not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can
obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(B) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the
circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
(b) Every person is guilty of theft who, with intent to deprive or
withhold the control of a trade secret from its owner, or with an
intent to appropriate a trade secret to his or her own use or to the
use of another, does any of the following:
(1) Steals, takes, carries away, or uses without authorization, a
trade secret.
(2) Fraudulently appropriates any article representing a trade
secret entrusted to him or her.
(3) Having unlawfully obtained access to the article, without
authority makes or causes to be made a copy of any article
representing a trade secret.
(4) Having obtained access to the article through a relationship
of trust and confidence, without authority and in breach of the
obligations created by that relationship, makes or causes to be made,
directly from and in the presence of the article, a copy of any
article representing a trade secret.
(c) Every person who promises, offers or gives, or conspires to
promise or offer to give, to any present or former agent, employee or
servant of another, a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for
conveying, delivering or otherwise making available an article
representing a trade secret owned by his or her present or former
principal, employer or master, to any person not authorized by the
owner to receive or acquire the trade secret and every present or
former agent, employee, or servant, who solicits, accepts, receives
or takes a benefit as an inducement, bribe or reward for conveying,
delivering or otherwise making available an article representing a
trade secret owned by his or her present or former principal,
employer or master, to any person not authorized by the owner to
receive or acquire the trade secret, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding
one year, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000),
or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(d) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, it shall be
no defense that the person returned or intended to return the
article.
499d. Any person who operates or takes an aircraft not his own,
without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent to either
permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his title to
or possession of such vehicle, whether with or without intent to
steal the same, or any person who is a party or accessory to or an
accomplice in any operation or unauthorized taking or stealing is
guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail for not more
than one year or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment.
500. (a) Any person who receives money for the actual or purported
purpose of transmitting the same or its equivalent to foreign
countries as specified in Section 1800.5 of the Financial Code who
fails to do at least one of the following acts unless otherwise
instructed by the customer is guilty of a misdemeanor or felony as
set forth in subdivision (b):
(1) Forward the money as represented to the customer within 10
days of receipt of the funds.
(2) Give instructions within 10 days of receipt of the customer's
funds, committing equivalent funds to the person designated by the
customer.
(3) Refund to the customer any money not forwarded as represented
within 10 days of the customer's written request for a refund
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1810.5 of the Financial Code.
(b) (1) If the total value of the funds received from the customer
is less than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), the offense set
forth in subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(2) If the total value of the money received from the customer is
nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, or if the total value of
all moneys received by the person from different customers is nine
hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more, and the receipts were part of a
common scheme or plan, the offense set forth in subdivision (a) is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3
years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
both that imprisonment and fine.
501. Upon a trial for larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes,
certificates of stock, or valuable securities, the allegation of the
indictment or information, so far as regards the description of the
property, is sustained, if the offender be proved to have embezzled
or stolen any money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable
security, although the particular species of coin or other money, or
the number, denomination, or kind of bank notes, certificates of
stock, or valuable security, is not proved; and upon a trial for
embezzlement, if the offender is proved to have embezzled any piece
of coin or other money, any bank note, certificate of stock, or
valuable security, although the piece of coin or other money, or bank
note, certificate of stock, or valuable security, may have been
delivered to him or her in order that some part of the value thereof
should be returned to the party delivering the same, and such part
shall have been returned accordingly.
502. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to expand the degree of protection afforded to individuals,
businesses, and governmental agencies from tampering, interference,
damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and
computer systems. The Legislature finds and declares that the
proliferation of computer technology has resulted in a concomitant
proliferation of computer crime and other forms of unauthorized
access to computers, computer systems, and computer data.
The Legislature further finds and declares that protection of the
integrity of all types and forms of lawfully created computers,
computer systems, and computer data is vital to the protection of the
privacy of individuals as well as to the well-being of financial
institutions, business concerns, governmental agencies, and others
within this state that lawfully utilize those computers, computer
systems, and data.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Access" means to gain entry to, instruct, or communicate with
the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(2) "Computer network" means any system that provides
communications between one or more computer systems and input/output
devices including, but not limited to, display terminals and printers
connected by telecommunication facilities.
(3) "Computer program or software" means a set of instructions or
statements, and related data, that when executed in actual or
modified form, cause a computer, computer system, or computer network
to perform specified functions.
(4) "Computer services" includes, but is not limited to, computer
time, data processing, or storage functions, or other uses of a
computer, computer system, or computer network.
(5) "Computer system" means a device or collection of devices,
including support devices and excluding calculators that are not
programmable and capable of being used in conjunction with external
files, one or more of which contain computer programs, electronic
instructions, input data, and output data, that performs functions
including, but not limited to, logic, arithmetic, data storage and
retrieval, communication, and control.
(6) "Data" means a representation of information, knowledge,
facts, concepts, computer software, computer programs or
instructions. Data may be in any form, in storage media, or as stored
in the memory of the computer or in transit or presented on a
display device.
(7) "Supporting documentation" includes, but is not limited to,
all information, in any form, pertaining to the design, construction,
classification, implementation, use, or modification of a computer,
computer system, computer network, computer program, or computer
software, which information is not generally available to the public
and is necessary for the operation of a computer, computer system,
computer network, computer program, or computer software.
(8) "Injury" means any alteration, deletion, damage, or
destruction of a computer system, computer network, computer program,
or data caused by the access, or the denial of access to legitimate
users of a computer system, network, or program.
(9) "Victim expenditure" means any expenditure reasonably and
necessarily incurred by the owner or lessee to verify that a computer
system, computer network, computer program, or data was or was not
altered, deleted, damaged, or destroyed by the access.
(10) "Computer contaminant" means any set of computer instructions
that are designed to modify, damage, destroy, record, or transmit
information within a computer, computer system, or computer network
without the intent or permission of the owner of the information.
They include, but are not limited to, a group of computer
instructions commonly called viruses or worms, that are
self-replicating or self-propagating and are designed to contaminate
other computer programs or computer data, consume computer resources,
modify, destroy, record, or transmit data, or in some other fashion
usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer system, or
computer network.
(11) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique, hierarchical
reference to an Internet host or service, assigned through
centralized Internet naming authorities, comprising a series of
character strings separated by periods, with the rightmost character
string specifying the top of the hierarchy.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), any person who commits
any of the following acts is guilty of a public offense:
(1) Knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages,
deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer
system, or computer network in order to either (A) devise or execute
any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort, or (B)
wrongfully
