People v. Melvin CA4/3

DISCUSSION

Section 490.2 was enacted pursuant to Proposition 47. Subdivision (a) states, “Notwithstanding Section 487 or any other provision of law defining grand theft,

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2 obtaining any property by theft where the value of the money, labor, real or personal property taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) shall be considered petty theft and shall be punished as a misdemeanor,” with some exceptions not relevant here. This statute is particularly important in the context of section 1170.18, where a defendant’s ability to convert a prior felony into a misdemeanor depends on whether the defendant “would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under the act that added this section (‘this act’) had this act been in effect at the time of the offense . . . .” (§ 1170.18, subd. (a).) Proposition 47 did not amend section 496d or Vehicle Code section 10851, both of which continue, at least on their face, to be punishable as felonies. The courts have struggled with the question whether the catch-all provision of section 490.2 renders vehicle thefts misdemeanors if the vehicle is valued at less than $950. In…