Embezzlement of property not exceeding $950 in value is considered “theft” under Penal Code section 490.2 and is eligible for Proposition 47 relief. While employed as a clerk at Walmart in 2002, Warmington stole a television, returned it for a gift card, and used the card to purchase other items. The value of these items was $851. He pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement (Pen. Code, § 503) and was placed on probation. In 2016, Warmington filed a Proposition 47 petition to redesignate his felony offense to a misdemeanor. The trial court denied the petition on the ground that embezzlement was not an eligible crime. Warmington appealed. Held: Reversed. Proposition 47 enacted Penal Code section 490.2, which specifies misdemeanor petty theft as “obtaining any property by theft” where the value of the property does not exceed $950. After analyzing the California Supreme Court’s recent decisions in People v. Romanowski (2017) 2 Cal.5th 903 and People v. Gonzales (2017) 2 Cal.5th 858, the Court of Appeal concluded that embezzlement of property valued at no more than $950 is a form of theft under section 490.2 and therefore shall be eligible for relief. The court reversed the trial court’s order and remanded with directions for the trial court to enter an order designating Warmington’s embezzlement conviction as a misdemeanor.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/C082556.PDF