People v. Maciel CA6

Filed 12/4/15 P. v. Maciel CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H041915 (Santa Clara County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. C1491885)

v.

SARA MACIEL

Defendant and Appellant.

In November 2014, appellant Sara Maciel pleaded no contest to one felony count of buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle in violation of Penal Code section 496d.1 Ultimately, appellant was granted probation on various terms and conditions. However, relevant to this appeal, at her sentencing hearing, appellant filed a brief in which she argued that her conviction for buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle should be reduced to a misdemeanor following the passage of Proposition 47. Proposition 47 is known as “the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act” (the Act), and is codified in section 1170.18. The trial court denied appellant’s request. In this timely appeal, appellant claims that violations of section 496d are misdemeanors when the value of the property is less than $950, and therefore the trial court erred in denying her request to reduce her conviction to a misdemeanor. Appellant concedes that section 496d was not specifically amended by Proposition 47; however, she

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

argues that section 496d should be treated substantively the same as section 496—buying or receiving stolen property. We disagree and affirm the judgment. Discussion Effective November 5, 2014, the voters approved Proposition 47, which, among other things, “[r]equire[s] misdemeanors instead of felonies for nonserious, nonviolent crimes such as petty theft and drug possession, unless the defendant has prior convictions for specified violent or serious crimes.” (Voter Information Guide, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 4, 2014) text of Prop. 47, § 3, p. 70 (Voter Information Guide).) Proposition 47 was intended to reduce penalties “for certain nonserious and nonviolent property and drug offenses from wobblers or felonies to misdemeanors.” Those crimes were identified as “Grand Theft,” “Shoplifting,” “Receiving Stolen Property,” “Writing Bad Checks,” “Check Forgery,” and “Drug Possession.” (Voter Information Guide, supra, analysis of Prop. 47 by Legis. Analyst, pp. 35-36.) The Act added section 1170.18 to the Penal Code. Subdivision (a) of that section lists the former felonies that are reduced to misdemeanors under certain conditions: Health and Safety Code sections 11350, subdivision (a), 11357, subdivision (a), and 11377, subdivision (a); and sections 459.5, subdivision (a), shoplifting; 473, subdivision (b), forgery; 476a, subdivision (b), issuing a check without sufficient funds; 490.2, subdivision (a), petty theft; 496, subdivision (a), receiving stolen property; and 666, subdivision (a), petty theft with a prior theft conviction. However, the list does not include section 496d, buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle. As can be seen, under the Act, receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)), is now a misdemeanor, as is auto theft (§ 487, subd. (d)(1), if the value of the stolen property or vehicle does not exceed $950. (§ 490.2, subd. (a) [notwithstanding section 487 or any other provision of law defining grand theft, obtaining any property by theft where the value of the money, labor, real or personal property taken does not exceed $950 shall be considered petty theft and shall be punished as a misdemeanor].)