Penal Code 459.5 defines the crime of shoplifting.
Shoplifting is when you enter a store intending
to steal merchandise inside.
And keep in mind, you don't even have
to ultimately steal the merchandise.
You don't even have to make it outside the store.
Simply entering the store with the intent to steal
is enough to complete the crime.
Now it used to be that entering a store intending
to steal anything at all could be charged as burglary, which
is a [? wobbler ?], which means it could be filed as a felony
and carried up to three years in jail or prison.
But that changed under Proposition 47
in November 2014.
So now, if you enter the store intending to steal--
or actually do steal-- merchandise that's
worth $950 or less, then it can only
be charged as misdemeanor shoplifting.
If you enter intending to steal-- or do
steal-- merchandise worth more than $950,
then it could be filed as felony burglary.
But the threshold is $950.
Now if you're convicted of misdemeanor shoplifting,
you'll likely be put on misdemeanor or summary
probation, you'll have to pay a fine,
you'll be ordered to stay away from the location,
and sometimes a judge will impose jail time.
And the maximum sentence is up to year in county jail.
Moreover, it looks really bad on your record.
Nobody wants to be sitting in a job interview explaining
to a prospective employer why they've
been convicted of shoplifting.
So to the extent that you got cited or arrested or charged
with shoplifting under Penal Code 459.5,
you want to do everything possible to fight the case
and keep it off you record.
Here at Shouse Law Group, we've had
a lot of success in defending clients in these cases,
and many times we find that it's a situation where our client
genuinely forgot to pay.
We had a case recently at a department store,
where our client had a bunch of merchandise
in her shopping cart and she went up to check out,
she put it on the check stand, and there were a couple items
that she forgot to take out of the cart
and put on the check stand to pay for.
She was distracted, she had a kid who was crying,
her cell phone was ringing-- she simply made a mistake
and forgot to put these extra items on the check stand.
She walked out of the store without paying
for them, got apprehended by Loss Prevention,
arrested for shoplifting.
We were able to go to court and convince the prosecutor
that our client genuinely and honestly forgot to pay,
and was not intending to steal anything,
and were able to get the charges completely dismissed.