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Name: People v. Evans
Case #: D059607
Opinion Date: 04/09/2013
Division: 1
Citation: 215 Cal.App.4th 242
Summary

For the purpose of Penal Code section 12022.6 (enhancement for property loss), loss means the value of the property taken or destroyed and does not include lost income and profits. Appellant was convicted of various offenses with the jury also finding true allegations that the victims’ aggregate losses exceeded $65,000 (Pen. Code, § 12022.6, subd. (a)(1)) and $200,000 (Pen. Code, § 12022.6, subd. (a)(2)). On appeal, appellant contended that there was insufficient evidence to support the finding as to section 12022.6, subd. (a)(2) as the jury improperly included one victim’s lost income and profits in its calculation of loss. Affirmed. The court observed that the statute does not specifically define the term “loss,” and, applying rules of statutory construction, it looked to the legislative history to discern the Legislature’s intent in enacting the statute. In examining the relevant documents dealing with the statute’s history, the court concluded the legislature intended “loss” in section 12022.6, subdivisions (a)(2) and (b), to mean only the value of the property taken, damaged, or destroyed, and did not include other types of economic losses suffered by the victim. In this case, however, even without the inclusion of the evidence of lost income and profits claimed by the victim, sufficient evidence established that the losses exceeded $200,000.