BILL NUMBER: AB 924	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 25, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bigelow

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Sections 487 and 489 of  , and to add
Section 12022.65 to,  the Penal Code, relating to grand
theft.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 924, as amended, Bigelow. Grand theft. 
   (1) Under 
    Under  existing law, grand theft is generally theft
committed when the money, labor, or real or personal property taken
is of a value exceeding $950, or when certain kinds of property are
taken. Under existing law, grand theft is committed when the property
taken is a horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any caprine
animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt, barrow,
or pig, or if a person steals the carcass or portion of the carcass
of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine animal, or of any
mule, jack, or jenny. Under existing law, grand theft is punishable
either as a felony or a misdemeanor.
   This bill would make grand theft of the above-specified animals
punishable as a felony or a misdemeanor, or by a fine not exceeding
$5,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The bill would require
the proceeds of the fine to be allocated to the Bureau of Livestock
Identification to be used upon appropriation for specified purposes.
 For a 2nd or subsequent conviction, except in unusual
circumstances, as specified, the bill would require 30 day's
incarceration in a county jail as a condition of granting probation.
 
   (2) Existing law requires the court, when any person takes,
damages, or destroys any property in the commission or attempted
commission of a felony, with the intent to cause that taking, damage,
or destruction, to impose an additional term of imprisonment based
on the amount of the loss. If the loss exceeds $65,000, existing law
requires the court to impose an additional term of one year of
imprisonment, if the loss exceeds $200,000, an additional term of 2
years, if the loss exceeds $1,300,000, an additional term of 3 years,
and if the loss exceeds $3,200,000, an additional term of 4 years.
 
   This bill would require the court, when any person takes, damages,
or destroys any horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any caprine
animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt,
barrow, or pig, or the carcass or portion of the carcass of any
bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine animal, or of any mule,
jack, or jenny, to impose an additional term of imprisonment based on
the amount of the loss. If the loss exceeds $15,000, the bill would
require the court to impose an additional term of one years'
imprisonment, and if the loss exceeds $50,000, the bill would require
the court to impose an additional term of 2 years' imprisonment, as
provided.  
   By increasing the punishment for a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.  
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes
  no  . State-mandated local program:  yes
  no  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 487 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   487.  Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following
cases:
   (a) When the money, labor, 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) A horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any caprine animal,
mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt, barrow, or
pig.
   (2) An automobile.
   (3) A firearm.
  SEC. 2.  Section 489 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   489.  Grand theft is punishable as follows:
   (a) If the grand theft involves the theft of a firearm, by
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, two, or three years.
   (b)  (1)    If the grand theft
involves a violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section
487 or Section 487a, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding
one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170,  and
  or  by a fine not exceeding five thousand
dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. The proceeds
of this fine shall be allocated to the Bureau of Livestock
Identification to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
purposes relating to the investigation of cases involving grand
theft of any animal or animals specified in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of Section 487, or of the carcass or carcasses of, or
any portion of the carcass or carcasses of, any animal specified in
Section 487a. 
   (2) If the person has a prior conviction of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of Section 487 or Section 487a, and if probation is
granted, or if the imposition or execution of sentence is suspended,
it shall be a condition of probation or the suspension that the
defendant serve at least 30 days in a county jail, except in unusual
circumstances where the interests of justice would best be served by
granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of
sentence without requiring imprisonment in a county jail, in which
case the court shall specify on the record and shall enter on the
minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice
would best be served by the disposition. 
   (c) In all other cases, by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

  SEC. 3.    Section 12022.65 is added to the Penal
Code, to read:
   12022.65.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 12022.6, when any person
takes, damages, or destroys any property specified in paragraph (1)
of subdivision (d) of Section 487, or specified in Section 487a, in
the commission or attempted commission of a felony, with the intent
to cause that taking, damage, or destruction, the court shall impose
an additional term as follows:
   (1) If the loss exceeds fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), the
court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for
the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been
convicted, shall impose an additional term of one year.
   (2) If the loss exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the
court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for
the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been
convicted, shall impose an additional term of two years.
   (b) In any accusatory pleading involving multiple charges of
taking, damage, or destruction, the additional terms provided in this
section may be imposed if the aggregate losses to the victims from
all felonies exceed the amounts specified in this section and arise
from a common scheme or plan. All pleadings under this section shall
remain subject to the rules of joinder and severance stated in
Section 954.
   (c) The additional terms provided in this section shall not be
imposed unless the facts of the taking, damage, or destruction in
excess of the amounts provided in this section are charged in the
accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of
fact.  
  SEC. 4.    No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.