Legal Question in Technology Law in California

One problem in relying upon penal statutes in a civil matter is that they are designed for enforcement by the district attorney, not individual plaintiffs, in criminal cases. Among other things, criminal statutes are designed to be used in an environment where proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" is required. This does not mean it is useless to rely upon criminal statutes in a civil matter, or that the D.A. would be uninterested in taking on this case; I am only pointing out that it is not necessarily possible to cite the Penal Code with success in a Small Claims matter.

For a number of reasons, the quality of justice dispensed in Small Claims is uneven. Some cases get decided wrongly, and for a variety of reasons, including the quality of the parties' presentations, the quality of the judging, and faults inherent in the system. Here, the judge apparently believed your ex-girlfriend's gift story. Why? People who give gifts ordinarily keep the receipts. I dunno; maybe you didn't put on a convincing case, mabe your judge did a lousy job.

Your choices now seem pretty much limited to appealing the Small Claims decision. This can be done within 30 days of the clerk delivering or mailing the notice of entry of judgment to the parties. See Code of Civil Procedure sections 116.750 et seq. An appeal from a Small Claims judgment is considered a "hearing de novo" meaning, essentially, a re-trial including new findings of fact (unlike an appeal from Superior Court, where findings of fact supported by evidence are not re-tried).