Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I will try to keep this short. I am a business owner. During the past year I have been broken into on 4 or 5 different occassions. Each burglary, (except for the most recent one, because I apprehended the suspect) totaled thousands of dollars in loss. I recently called the DA for my county, and one of the suspects are only facing 2 counts of burglary (pc459) and a charge of conspiring to commit burglary. The charges are regarding the most recent burglary (8/6/09, and the one before that 5/26/09). It seems that the individual should also be charged with felony larceny? I am confused on how this individual could be charged with a 459 when I recently had a shoplifter who was charged with a 459 also, because he intended to steal. Shouldn't there be a charge related to the actual theft of items out of my store? I don't see how he could deny that he took part of the theft of thousands of dollars of items, especially since these crimes are on video.


Asked on 10/19/09, 3:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Marshall Law Office of Robert L, Marshall

Under this situation, theft charges would just be cumulative and would not affect the outcome of the case.

Under California Penal Code 654, a defendant can't be punished twice for the same conduct.

The defendant wouldn't get additional time if he was convicted of both burglary (breaking into your store with the intent to commit a theft) and grand theft (actually stealing the stuff once he broke in).

Read more
Answered on 10/19/09, 10:40 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in California