SHABTAY

Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (b) 1 defines an offense of grand theft where a person “within any consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were taken or retained” with the intent to defraud. The narrow issue in this appeal is whether a defendant may be convicted of more than one violation of section 484e, subdivision (b) within any 12-month consecutive period, when a defendant acquires eight or more access cards. We conclude that the plain language of section 484e, subdivision (b) precludes multiple convictions where the prosecution alleges that the defendant acquired access cards within any consecutive 12-month period.

A jury convicted defendant and appellant Yerev Shabtay of multiple offenses arising from a sophisticated identity theft scheme he operated in 2001, including three counts of grand theft of personal property (§ 487, subd. (a)), two counts of grand theft by possession of access card numbers of *1188 11 other persons (§ 484e, subd. (b)), one count of receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)), and one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft (§§ 182, subd.…

I concur in the reversal of one of the two Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (b) convictions. I reach the same ultimate conclusion as my colleagues but for materially different reasons. This is an appeal involving mixed issues of statutory interpretation and substantial evidence. (20th Century Ins. Co. v. Garamendi (1994) 8 Cal.4th 216, 271 [ 32 *1193 Cal.Rptr.2d 807 , 878 P.2d 566 ]; McMillin-BCED/Miramar Ranch North v. County of San Diego (1995) 31 Cal.App.4th 545, 554 [ 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 472 ].) When the rule of lenity is factored in to the statutory interpretation aspect of the case, defendant prevails.

Unlike my colleagues, I believe the application of the “who within any consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the names of four or more persons” is guilty of grand theft language in Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (b) to this case is cloaked in ambiguity. On one hand, it can be argued, as does defendant, that since the 11 credit card numbers were all possessed in a three-month, two-day period as alleged in the information, only one act of grand theft occurred. On the other hand, as the Attorney General argues, the first set of four victims can be…

Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (b) [1] defines an offense of grand theft where a person "within any consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were taken or retained" with the intent to defraud. The narrow issue in this appeal is whether a defendant may be convicted of more than one violation of section 484e, subdivision (b) within any 12-month consecutive period, when a defendant acquires eight or more access cards. We conclude that the plain language of section 484e, subdivision (b) precludes multiple convictions where the prosecution alleges that the defendant acquired access cards within any consecutive 12-month period.

A jury convicted defendant and appellant Yerev Shabtay of multiple offenses arising from a sophisticated identity theft scheme he operated in 2001, including three counts of grand theft of personal property (§ 487, subd. (a)), two counts of grand theft by possession of access card numbers of 11 other persons (§ 484e, subd. (b)), one count of receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)), and one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft (§§ 182, subd.…