Zamani

Defendant Michael Jaffari Zamani was convicted by jury trial of felony appropriation of lost property (Pen. Code, § 485). The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed him on probation. On appeal, he contends that the trial court prejudicially erred in (1) failing to instruct the jury that the offense required a specific intent, (2) failing to instruct the jury on mistake of fact, and (3) instructing the jury that mistake of law was not a defense. He also asserts that his trial counsel was prejudicially deficient in failing to offer a proper theory of admissibility for his prior act of returning property to its true owner. We hold that the crime of appropriation of lost property is not a specific intent offense, and we find no prejudicial instructional error and no deficiency of counsel. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

I. Factual Background

Two test circuit boards owned by Quicksilver Technology, Inc. (Quicksilver), each containing four semiconductor chips, were “lost in transit” in February 2004 while being transported from San Jose to the San Francisco airport. Each of the chips on the boards bore a Quicksilver logo. Quicksilver had manufactured…

I concur in the judgment. I write separately because it is my view that appropriation of lost property is a specific intent crime and that it was error to instruct the jury that it was a general intent crime. However, I conclude that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the court instructed the jury with the language of Penal Code section 485, which I find contains language that is the functional equivalent of the common law specific intent necessary to establish theft. Finding no other error, I would affirm the judgment.

Facts

I. Prosecution Case

A. The Property Was Lost

In February 2004, Quicksilver Technology, Inc. (Quicksilver), shipped two evaluation development circuit boards (Boards) to Japan for a sales presentation. TNT, USA, Inc. (TNT), was the freight forwarder for the shipment and subcontracted part of the job to Eagle Global Logistics (Eagle Global). The Boards were lost in transit.

*869 The Boards were not sold to the general public. They were used by potential customers to test the chips that Quicksilver was developing. The chips contained Quicksilver’s unique technology and intellectual property.

B. Silicon Valley Compucycle Obtains and…

MIHARA, Acting P. J.—

Defendant Michael Jaffari Zamani was convicted by jury trial of felony appropriation of lost property (Pen. Code, § 485). The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed him on probation. On appeal, he contends that the trial court prejudicially erred in (1) failing to instruct the jury that the offense required a specific intent, (2) failing to instruct the jury on mistake of fact, and (3) instructing the jury that mistake of law was not a defense. He also asserts that his trial counsel was prejudicially deficient in failing to offer a proper theory of admissibility for his prior act of returning property to its true owner. We hold that the crime of appropriation of lost property is not a specific intent offense, and we find no prejudicial instructional error and no deficiency of counsel. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

Two test circuit boards owned by QuickSilver Technology, Inc. (QuickSilver), each containing four semiconductor chips, were "lost in transit" in February 2004 while being transported from San Jose to the San Francisco airport. Each of the chips on the boards bore a QuickSilver logo. QuickSilver had manufactured only 14 of…