Erickson

*244 An appellate court's holding arises from the facts and the application of statutory and case law. Whether a holding will apply to the *245 facts of a future case is seldom absolutely certain. As this case demonstrates, appellate court decisions turn on a majority's reasoned legal analysis of what it considers to be a reasonable application of the law under the particular circumstances of the case.

Bret Arthur Erickson appeals from a restitution order after he pled guilty to one count of grand theft. ( Pen. Code, § 487, subd. (a).) 1 The trial court placed him on probation and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $4,015.44 to compensate the victim for wire he stole. 2 Erickson contends the trial court erred when it ordered him to pay the full value of the wire and allowed his victim to retain some of the wire recovered by police. We disagree and affirm the restitution order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Erickson stole 520 feet of underwater copper wire from Four Sisters Ranch winery. The winery used the wire in one of its wells. After Erickson's arrest, police recovered and returned two pieces of the wire-one 264 feet long, the other 32 feet long-to the winery.…