Felony conviction for grand theft under Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (d) is not eligible for reduction to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47. Police searched Grayson and found three credit cards and four credit card account profiles in his backpack that did not belong to him. The cardholders did not report any monetary losses. Grayson was convicted of seven felony counts of grand theft pursuant to section 484e, subdivision (d), which provides that “[e]very person who acquires or retains possession of access card account information with respect to an access card validly issued to another person, without the cardholder’s or issuer’s consent, with the intent to use it fraudulently, is guilty of grand theft.” Thereafter, the voters passed Proposition 47, which added Penal Code section 490.2. This new statute provides that “[n]otwithstanding Section 487 or any other provision of law defining grand theft, obtaining any property by theft where the value of the money, labor, or real or personal property taken does not exceed [$950] shall be considered petty theft and shall be punished as a misdemeanor.” Citing section 490.2, Grayson filed a petition to have his felony convictions reduced to misdemeanors. The trial court denied the petition. Grayson appealed. Held: Affirmed. Although section 490.2 purports to apply to all provisions defining grand theft, it mentions only section 487. Both sections 490.2 and 487 presume a loss to the victim that can be quantified to determine whether it exceeds the $950 threshold. By contrast, no monetary loss is necessary to sustain a conviction for grand theft under section 482e, subdivision (d). Possession of an access card or information with intent to use it is sufficient. Due to that distinction, the Court of Appeal concluded “there was no intent to apply section 490.2 to section 484e(d) to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor.”
Case Summaries