People v. Brafford CA2/4

DISCUSSION

A person is guilty of burglary if he or she enters any building (or other listed structure) with the intent to commit larceny or any felony. (§ 459; People v. Davis (1998) 18 Cal.4th 712, 715.) Burglary of an uninhabited building is of the second degree and a felony-misdemeanor (wobbler). (§§ 460, 461.) Proposition 47 added new section 459.5 defining the crime of “shoplifting,” which reduces some second degree burglaries to misdemeanors. It provides, in relevant part: ‘“(a) Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny is burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor . . . [¶] (b) Any act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be charged as shoplifting. No person who is charged with shoplifting may also be charged with burglary or theft of the same property.”’ (See People v. Contreras (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 868,…