Appellant was convicted of the felony of knowingly acessing and taking data from a computer system, a violation of Penal Code section 502, subdivision (c)(2), for taking the source code of his former employer. The jury found not true an allegation that the property taken was valued at more than $2.5 million, and the trial court denied appellants motion to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, rejecting arguments that: the offense should not be a felony as the statute lacked a mens rea requirement; the statute is unconstitutionally vague; the trial court erred in admitting evidence of prior misconduct by defendant (his possession of a source code from another former employer) and in admitting printouts of computer access times; the trial court should have given a unanimity instruction regarding the dates of the alleged offenses; and the trial court should have granted the motion to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor.
Case Summaries