Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Charging somebody with commercial burglary for stealing a pair of jeans is a really nasty way of increasing the potential punishment for shoplifting.

Burglary is entering a building with the intent to commit theft or a felony. If somebody was walking around a store and decided to steal something, it would be petty theft; if they intended to shoplift before they entered, it's burglary.

Commercial burglary is a wobbler, which means it can be charged as a felony with a maximum term of three years in state prison, or as a misdemeanor with a maximum of a year in jail. (Residential burglar is much worse: it can't be a misdemeanor, it carries a maximum term of six years and it counts as a strike under the Three Strikes law.)

Your son's juvenile record was not automatically sealed when he turned 18. He would have to file a petition to the court to seal the record, and some serious juvenile offenses can't be sealed.

This case might be resolved as a misdemeanor burglary or petty theft. Either would count as a prior theft conviction, which could be used to increase any future petty theft to a felony.

He needs an attorney. If he can't afford to hire a lawyer, he should ask the judge to appoint the public defender.