BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator Bruce McPherson, Chair A
2001-2002 Regular Session B
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AB 2015 (Corbett) 5
As Amended April 10, 2002
Hearing date: June 11, 2002
Penal Code
JM:mc
POSSESSION OF BURGLARY TOOLS
CERAMIC OR PORCELAIN SPARK PLUG PIECES
HISTORY
Source: City of Pleasanton Police Department
Prior Legislation: SB 205 (McPherson) - Ch. 854, Stats. 2001
(technical changes)
AB 1895 (Wright) - Ch. 82, Stats. 1984
Support: Attorney General; California District Attorneys
Association; California Peace Officers Association; San
Bernadino County Sheriff
Opposition:California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 67 - Noes 0
SEE COMMENT #4 FOR AMENDMENT TO CLARIFY INTENT TO ADD CERAMIC
SPARK PLUG PIECES, AND NOT COMMON OBJECTS THAT COULD BREAK
GLASS, TO THE LIST OF BURGLARS' TOOLS.
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KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE MISDEMEANOR OF POSSESSION OF BURGLARY TOOLS, WHICH
REQUIRES INTENT TO COMMIT A BURGLARY, BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE
POSSESSION OF CERAMIC OR PORCELAIN SPARK PLUG PIECES OR CHIPS?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to add ceramic or porcelain spark
plug chips or pieces to the list of items that may be defined as
burglary tools when possessed with the intent to commit
burglary.
Existing law makes the possession of a picklock, crow, keybit,
crowbar, screwdriver, vise-grip plier, water-pump plier,
slidehammer, slim jim, tension bar, lock pick gun, tubular lock
pick, floor-safe door puller, master keys, or other instrument
or tool with the intent to break into any building, railroad
car, vessel, or vehicle a misdemeanor punishable by up to six
months in county jail, or a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both.
(Pen. Code 466.)
Existing law makes the possession of a key, tool, instrument,
explosive, or device, or a drawing, print, or mold of a key,
tool, instrument, explosive, or device designed to open, break
into, or damage a coin-operated machine with the intent to
commit theft from such machine punishable by up to one year in
county jail, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both.
(Pen. Code 466.3.)
Existing law provides that every person who, with the intent to
use it in the commission of an unlawful act, possesses a motor
vehicle master key, or a motor vehicle wheel lock master key, is
guilty of a misdemeanor. (Pen. Code 466.5, subd. (a).)
Existing law provides that every person who, with the intent to
use it in the commission of an unlawful act, possesses a motor
vehicle key with knowledge that the key was made without the
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consent of either the registered or legal owner is guilty of a
misdemeanor. (Pen. Code 466.7.)
Existing law provides that every person who enters any house,
room, apartment, shop, store, warehouse, or other building,
vessel, aircraft, railroad car, trailer coach, camper, or
vehicle with the intent to commit theft or any felony is guilty
of burglary. (Pen. Code 459.)
This bill makes the possession of ceramic or porcelain<1> spark
plug chips or pieces, with the intent to commit burglary, a
misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, or a
fine not to exceed $1,000, or both.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
Automobile break-ins result in annual costs of
millions of dollars to California's citizens in the
form of personal property loss and increased insurance
rates. Thieves and vandals are using a new burglar
tool of choice, pieces of ceramic or porcelain spark
plug chips, to break the window of an automobile
quickly and quietly in order to steal the car or
commit acts of random vandalism. However, because
Penal Code 466 does not list sparkplug chips as a
burglar tool, there is confusion in the field and in
the courts. AB 2015 will allow justice to be served
without opening section 466 to include an overly broad
range of generic objects, such as rocks or pieces of
tile, that could be used to break windows.
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<1> Webster's New-World Dictionary (2nd College Ed. 1980)
defines ceramic as baked potter's clay. It defines porcelain as
a hard, white nonporous variety of ceramic ware, made of kaolin,
feldspar and quartz or flint.
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2. How Ceramic Spark Plugs are Used in Auto Burglaries
Ceramic spark plug pieces are common tools for car burglars.
When a plug piece is thrown or swung at a car window, the window
typically shatters completely with very little sound. (People
v. Gordon, supra, 90 Cal.App.4th 1409, 1411.) Thieves have been
known to wear the ceramic part of a spark plug on a string as a
necklace for easy access and use.
3. Appellate Court Decisions on the Issue Presented by This Bill
Penal Code section 466 lists a number of items, such as pliers,
screwdrivers, picklocks, crowbars, or "other instrument[s] or
tool[s]" which are "burglar's tools" when possessed with the
intent to commit burglary. In People v. Gordon (2001) 90
Cal.App.4th 1409, the court found that an instrument is not a
burglar's tool just because it can accomplish the same purpose
as the listed tools. A non-listed tool or device must be
similar to those specifically listed in section 466.
Consequently, chips from spark plugs do not meet the "other
instrument or tool" provision of Penal Code section 466.
The court in Gordon explained its decision:
Ceramic pieces from a spark plug are not specifically
listed in section 466; thus, the issue is whether they
come under the meaning of "other instrument or tool"
as used in the section. In making this determination
we are guided by the rule of construction known as
ejusdem generis--which applies when general terms
follow a list of specific items or categories, or vice
versa. (Kraus v. Trinity Management Services, Inc.
(2000) 23 Cal. 4th 116, 141.) Under this rule,
application of the general term is " 'restricted to
those things that are similar to those which are
enumerated specifically.' " (Harris v. Capital Growth
Investors XIV (1991) 52 Cal. 3d 1142, 1160, fn. 7
[citations omitted].) Moreover, "in construing
criminal statutes, the ejusdem generis rule of
construction is applied with stringency. [Citation.]"
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(People v. Thomas (1945) 25 Cal. 2d 880, 899.) Thus,
the meaning of the words "or other instrument or tool"
in section 466 is restricted to a form of device
similar to those expressly set forth in the statute .
(Cook v. Superior Court (1970) 4 Cal. App. 3d 822,
828, emphasis added.)
The items specifically listed as burglar's tools in
section 466 are keys or key replacements, or tools that
can be used to pry open doors, pick locks, or pull
locks up or out. None of the devices enumerated are
those whose function would be to break or cut
glass--e.g., rocks, bricks, hammers or glass cutters,
and none of the devices listed resembles ceramic spark
plug pieces that can be thrown at a car window to break
it. Nevertheless, the People liken a ceramic spark
plug piece to a "shaved" key because both provide for
quiet breaking and entering, and argue that a spark
plug piece is an "other instrument or tool" which
satisfies the statutory definition in section 466
because "it operates as effectively in breaking into a
vehicle as unlocking the vehicle door with a metal tool
. . . ." However, the test is not whether a device can
accomplish the same general purpose as the tools
enumerated in section 466; rather, the device itself
must be similar to those specifically mentioned. Here,
a ceramic piece of a spark plug that can be thrown at a
car window is not similar to the burglar's tools listed
in the statute . (See Cook v. Superior Court, supra, 4
Cal. App. 3d at pp. 828-829 [where the statute
prohibited possession of a revolver, pistol, fountain
pen gun, billy, riot gun or " 'other form of device . .
. intended for the projection or release of tear gas,'
" it did not apply to a mace/tear gas canister because
this device was not similar to the enumerated items].)
Accordingly, Gordon's conviction for possession of
burglar's tools under section 466 cannot stand.
[Citation omitted.] (People v. Gordon, supra, 90
Cal.App.4th at pp. 1412-1413, emphasis added.)
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However, in In re Robert B. (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 963, the
appellate court held that spark plug chips do fall into the
category of "other instrument or tool" for the purposes of Penal
Code section 466. The California Supreme Court granted review
in Robert B., on February 13, 2002, stating: "The issues to be
briefed and argued shall be limited to whether possession of
chips from ceramic spark plugs violated Penal Code section 466,
contrary to the holding in People v. Gordon (2001) 90
Cal.App.4th 1409." The Supreme Court did not disturb the ruling
in Gordon by its grant of review in Robert B.
This bill could effectively render moot the grant of review of
Robert B. Under this bill, possession of ceramic spark plug
pieces or chips, with intent to commit burglary, would
constitute the misdemeanor of possession of burglary tools. The
Supreme Court in Robert B. is likely to consider the effect of
the general reference to "other instrument or tool" in the
burglary tool statute, in light of the very specific list of
items that are defined as burglary tools.
Further, it should be noted that the opposition to this bill by
the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice was that ceramic
spark plug pieces are included in the existing burglary tool
statute. The decision in Gordon and the recent grant of review
in Robert B. may have limited the factual basis for that
argument.
4. Amendment as to Intent of This Bill to Only Add
Ceramic/Porcelain Spark Plug Pieces to Burglars' Tools in
Penal Code Section 466
Some reviewers of the bill have expressed concerns about
adding to the list of burglars' tools an object that is not
ordinarily used as a tool for any legitimate purpose as a tool.
The other items in the list (pliers, slim jims, screw driver,
etc.) would generally be considered tools in the sense that they
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could be used for specific purposes in legitimate activities.
This bill considers an object that is not usable as a tool in
the common meaning of that term, as a ceramic chip from a spark
plug has lost its utility as an engine part. Nevertheless,
although ceramic spark plug chips have lost utility for their
original intended purpose, it appears that they are singularly
effective tools for breaking car windows in a way that other
common objects are not.
To address these concerns, the author has agreed that the bill
should be amended to include uncodified language. This language
would clarify that the intent of the Legislature in enacting
this measure is to only add ceramic of porcelain spark plug
chips, not generic objects that could break glass, to the list
of burglars' tools in section 466. Discussions with the
author's office indicate that it is not the intent of the author
to include common objects (rocks, pieces of metal, etc.) as
burglars' tools by the specific addition of ceramic spark plug
pieces. Rather, the intent of this bill is to add to section
466 an object that is a specific and particularly effective tool
for the breaking of car windows.
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