California Court of Appeal

In a case involving the interplay between two criminal law statutes -- one a provision of the Penal Code, the other a provision of the Vehicle Code -- the trial court's order denying defendant's petition under the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47) to have his felony Vehicle Code section 10851 conviction reduced to misdemeanor petty theft under Penal Code section 490.2, is reversed where: 1) defendant stole a $700 car, drove it into a reservoir, and left it there, and he is therefore guilty of a driving theft of a low-value car, which is a theft conviction and would have been petty theft had Proposition 47 been in effect at the time of his offense; and thus 2) defendant was eligible for relief under Penal Code section 1170.18.

Appellate Information

• Published 2017/03/23

Judges

• SLOUGH

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel