BILL NUMBER: AB 751	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Garrick

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to amend Section 666.5 of the Penal Code, and to amend
Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, relating to theft.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 751, as introduced, Garrick. Theft: motor vehicle: penalties.
   Existing law punishes persons who have been previously convicted
of specified motor vehicle violations with imprisonment in the state
prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or by a fine of $10,000, or by both that
fine and imprisonment. These violations include certain felony grand
thefts of a motor vehicle.
   This bill would apply those provisions to a person who has
previously been convicted of one or more misdemeanor violations. The
bill would also prohibit a person subject to punishment under the
above provisions from being granted probation, except in unusual
cases in which the court finds that the interests of justice would
best be served by probation.
   Existing law makes it a felony for a person to unlawfully take or
steal, as described, an ambulance or a distinctively marked vehicle
of a law enforcement agency or fire department, while the vehicle is
on an emergency call and this fact is known to the person, or for a
person to take a vehicle that has been modified for the use of a
disabled veteran or any other disabled person and that displays a
distinguishing license plate or placard and this fact is known or
should reasonably have been known to the person.
   This bill would delete the requirements that the status of the
vehicle, as an ambulance, law enforcement agency or fire department
vehicle, or vehicle of a disabled veteran or other person, be known
to the person. The bill would additionally remove the requirement,
with respect to a law enforcement agency or fire department vehicle,
that the vehicle be in use on an emergency call. The bill would also
provide enhanced prison sentences for persons who steal a motor
vehicle under specified circumstances. By expanding the scope of
existing crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 666.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   666.5.  (a) Every person who, having been previously convicted of
a  felony  violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle
Code, or  felony  grand theft involving an
automobile in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 487 or former
subdivision (3) of Section 487, as that section read prior to being
amended by Section 4 of Chapter 1125 of the Statutes of 1993, or
 felony  grand theft involving a motor vehicle, as
defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined
in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction
equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any
vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code
in violation of former Section 487h, or a  felony 
violation of Section 496d regardless of whether or not the person
actually served a prior prison term for those offenses, is
subsequently convicted of any of these offenses shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or a
fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both the fine and the
imprisonment.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, the terms "special
construction equipment" and "vessel" are limited to motorized
vehicles and vessels.
   (c) The existence of any fact  which   that
 would bring a person under subdivision (a) shall be alleged in
the information or indictment and either admitted by the defendant in
open court, or found to be true by the jury trying the issue of
guilt or by the court where guilt is established by plea of guilty or
nolo contendere or by trial by the court sitting without a jury.

   (d) A person who is subject to punishment pursuant to this section
for previously having been convicted of two or more of the offenses
enumerated in subdivision (a), may be granted probation only in the
unusual case in which the interests of justice would be best served
by probation. If probation is granted pursuant to this subdivision,
the court shall specify on the record and shall enter into the
minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice
would be best served by that disposition. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   10851.  (a) Any person who drives or takes a vehicle not his or
her own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent
either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his
or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or
without intent to steal the vehicle, or any person who is a party or
an accessory to or an accomplice in the driving or unauthorized
taking or stealing, is guilty of a public offense and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than one year or in the state prison or by a fine
of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both the fine
and imprisonment.
   (b) If the vehicle  described in subdivision (a)  is (1)
an ambulance, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 165, (2) a
distinctively marked vehicle of a law enforcement agency or fire
department,  taken while the ambulance or vehicle is on an
emergency call and this fact is known to the person driving or
taking, or any person who is party or an accessory to or an
accomplice in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing,
 or (3) a vehicle  which   that 
has been modified for the use of a disabled veteran or any other
disabled person and  which   that  displays
a distinguishing license plate or placard issued pursuant to Section
22511.5 or  22511.9 and this fact is known or should
reasonably have been known to   22511.9,  the
 person driving or taking, or any person who is party or an
accessory in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing, the
 offense is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, three, or four years or by a fine of not more than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

   (c) In any prosecution for a violation of subdivision (a) or (b),
the consent of the owner of a vehicle to its taking or driving shall
not in any case be presumed or implied because of the owner's consent
on a previous occasion to the taking or driving of the vehicle by
the same or a different person.
   (d) The existence of any fact which makes subdivision (b)
applicable shall be alleged in the accusatory pleading, and either
admitted by the defendant in open court, or found to be true by the
jury trying the issue of guilt or by the court where guilt is
established by plea of guilty or nolo contendere or by trial by the
court sitting without a jury.
   (e) Any person who has been convicted of one or more previous
felony violations of this section, or felony grand theft of a vehicle
in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 487 of the Penal Code,
former subdivision (3) of Section 487 of the Penal Code, as that
section read prior to being amended by Section 4 of Chapter 1125 of
the Statutes of 1993, or Section 487h of the Penal Code, is
punishable as set forth in Section 666.5 of the Penal Code. The
existence of any fact that would bring a person under Section 666.5
of the Penal Code shall be alleged in the information or indictment
and either admitted by the defendant in open court, or found to be
true by the jury trying the issue of guilt or by the court where
guilt is established by plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or by
trial by the court sitting without a jury. 
   (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1997.
 
   (f) A person who violates subdivision (a), in addition to any
other penalties prescribed by law, is subject to an additional one
year of imprisonment in the state prison if any of the following
circumstances exists:  
   (1)  The person takes a vehicle in exchange for consideration or
for the purpose of sale or transport of the vehicle or its
components.  
   (2)  The person takes a vehicle that, prior to its recovery, is
used in the commission of an offense that is a felony.  
   (3)  The person takes a vehicle with the intent to use the vehicle
in the commission of a felony.  
   (4) The person takes a vehicle that, prior to its recovery, is the
subject of a police pursuit.  
   (g) A person who violates subdivision (a) by taking a vehicle
that, prior to its recovery, is involved in a collision, in addition
to other penalties prescribed by law, is subject to an additional one
year of imprisonment in the state prison and an additional and
consecutive one year of imprisonment in the state prison for each
victim who suffers personal injury as a proximate cause of that
collision.  
   (h) The enhancements in subdivisions (f) and (g) shall be alleged
in the accusatory pleading and either admitted by the defendant in
open court or found to be true by the trier of fact. 
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.