Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: consequences to grand theft

The charge of grand theft under section 487 of the Penal Code (taking of property over $400) is a "wobbler" which means that it may be treated as a misdemeanor or felony. Should it be filed as a felony (maximum 3 years state prison), the DA can still reduce it to a misdemeanor (maximum 1 year county jail.) My advice would be to make an agreement with the employer that if the amount is paid, for them NOT to go to the DA to have charges filed. Should they not agree to that, the DA is likely to look favorably upon your wife if she is making payments or has paid the entire resitution owed and will be more likely to charge her with only a misdemeanor and if she has no criminal record, will probably NOT give her jail time but probation and community service or something like that. Obviously this is not a guarantee and that is why I suggested really trying to convince the employer to not even go to the DA. Good luck!