AB 1794: Crimes: larceny.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of money, labor, or property petty theft punishable as a misdemeanor, whenever the value of the property taken does not exceed $950. Under existing law, if the value of the property taken exceeds $950, the theft is grand theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. Proposition 47 requires shoplifting, defined as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny if the value of the property taken does not exceed $950, to be punished as a misdemeanor.

Under existing law, if the value of all property taken over the course of distinct but related acts motivated by one intention, general impulse, and plan exceeds $950, those values may be aggregated into a single charge of grand theft.

This bill would clarify that those values may be aggregated even though the thefts occurred in different places or from different victims. The bill would also, declarative of existing law, provide that circumstantial evidence may be used to prove that multiple thefts were motivated by one intention, general impulse, and plan.

The bill would, until January 1, 2030, would also authorize counties to operate a program to allow retailers to submit details of alleged shoplifting shoplifting, organized retail theft, or grand theft directly to the county district attorney through an online portal on the district attorneys internet website. The bill would require counties that participate in the program to conduct an evaluation and collect specified information, and to report that information to the Department of Justice, Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees and the Board of State and Community Corrections, as specified.