Stanfill

Charged with one felony count of embezzlement by a public officer (Pen. Code, § 504; all undesignated references are to that code), Jimmy Wayne Stanfill was tried by a jury that acquitted him of that crime but found him guilty of the misdemeanor equivalent (§§ 504, 514), as a lesser offense. Granted three years’ probation conditioned on jail time and his payment of $9,339.05 in restitution, Stanfill appeals claiming misinstruction on the statute of limitations and improper restitution. We will reverse for instructional error.

Background

The trial ran three weeks, involved three dozen witnesses and produced a reporter’s transcript topping two thousand two hundred pages. While the parties summarize the testimony in detail, we find the issues adequately framed by a broader overview.

The People showed irregularities in Stanfill’s handling of cash and property during his tenure as airport manager for Gnoss Field, Marin County Airport. He had held the job since 1984 and was an employee of the county department of public works (DPW). The prosecution theory was that he began embezzling—keeping cash and obtaining autobody repair tools for his own use—sometime after a wage…