People v. Bell

The majority opinion works a major change in California’s law of theft. Under California law, a defendant is guilty of theft only if the defendant acted with “an intent to deprive the owner permanently of possession of the property. [Citations.]” (People v. Davis (1998) 19 Cal.4th 301, 307 [ 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 295 , 965 P.2d 1165 ].) The majority holds that an intent to deprive the owner permanently of a temporary interest in possession of property constitutes an intent to deprive the owner permanently of possession of property. That holding eliminates the intent-to-deprive-permanently requirement—every intent to deprive the owner temporarily of possession is an intent to deprive the owner permanently of a temporary interest in possession, which in turn, under the majority’s holding, is an intent to deprive the owner permanently of possession. Thus, under the majority opinion, every intent to deprive the owner temporarily of possession will satisfy the intent element for theft. Perceiving no basis or authority for such a rewriting of the law of theft, I respectfully dissent from the affirmance of Bell’s theft conviction.

Bell’s conduct, as proven at trial, was wrongful and criminal,…

Monique Shiontel Bell used another person’s name and personal identifying information to convince a lessor of an apartment that Bell was creditworthy. She leased the apartment and soon was delinquent in paying rent until she was evicted. A jury convicted Bell of identity theft and related charges, including grand theft. Bell challenges the grand theft conviction, claiming that it is not supported by substantial evidence that she had the intent to permanently deprive the lessor of its property. We disagree and affirm because Bell intended to permanently deprive the lessor of a leasehold interest, at least to the extent that Bell failed to pay rent during her occupancy.

BACKGROUND

The information charged Bell with one count of identity theft in violation of subdivision (a) of Penal Code section 530.5 (count 1), one count of false personation in violation of section 529 (count 2), one count of making a false financial statement in violation of subdivision (1) of section 532a (count 3), and grand theft of personal property in violation of subdivision (a) of section 487 (count 4).

The charges were tried to a jury, which found Bell guilty on all counts. The court sentenced…