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AB-2790 Crimes: organized retail theft.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 03/22/2024 04:00 AM
AB2790:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2790

Introduced by Assembly Member Pacheco

February 15, 2024

An act to amend Section 369d 490.4 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2790, as amended, Pacheco. Crimes against public safety. Crimes: organized retail theft.
Existing law, until January 1, 2026, prohibits organized retail theft, described as acting in concert with one or more persons to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplaces with the intent to sell or return the merchandise for value, acting in concert with 2 or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess merchandise knowing or believing it to have been stolen, acting as an agent of another to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplaces as part of an organized plan to commit theft, or recruiting, coordinating, organizing, supervising, directing, managing, or financing another to undertake acts of theft. Under existing law, a violation of organized retail theft is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony.
This bill would additionally define organized retail theft to include acting in concert with one or more persons to steal specified types of merchandise, including infant formula, baby food, over-the-counter medications, and blood glucose testing strips, with the intent to sell those items. The bill would make a violation of this provision punishable as a felony.
By expanding the application of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would also extend the operative date of the prohibition against organized retail theft indefinitely.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires any person who enters or crosses any railroad at a private passway enclosed by bars or gates to leave the bars or gates securely closed after entering or crossing.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 490.4 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

490.4.
 (a) A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of organized retail theft, and shall be punished pursuant to subdivision (b):
(1) Acts in concert with one or more persons to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplace with the intent to sell, exchange, or return the merchandise for value.
(2) Acts in concert with two or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess merchandise described in paragraph (1), knowing or believing it to have been stolen.
(3) Acts as an agent of another individual or group of individuals to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplaces as part of an organized plan to commit theft.
(4) Recruits, coordinates, organizes, supervises, directs, manages, or finances another to undertake any of the acts described in paragraph (1) or (2) or any other statute defining theft of merchandise.
(5) Acts in concert with one or more persons to steal any of the following types of merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplace with the intent to sell those items.
(A) Any infant formula or baby food that is required to have a “use by” date on its packaging pursuant to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and any federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal act, including, but not limited to, Section 107.20 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For purposes of this section, “baby food” shall have the meaning given to “baby foods” in paragraph (c) of Section 407.81 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and “infant formula” shall have the meaning given in subdivision (z) of Section 321 of Title 21 of the United States Code.
(B) Any over-the-counter medication, vitamin, or supplement, that has an expiration date on its packaging.
(C) Any medical product intended for the diagnosis or treatment of an illness, such as a blood glucose testing strip or ketone urine strip, that has an expiration date on its packaging.
(b) Organized retail theft is punishable as follows:
(1) If violations of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) are committed on two or more separate occasions within a 12-month period, and if the aggregated value of the merchandise stolen, received, purchased, or possessed within that 12-month period exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(2) Any other violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) that is not described in paragraph (1) of this subdivision is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year.
(3) A violation of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(4) A violation of paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) is punishable pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(c) For the purpose of determining whether the defendant acted in concert with another person or persons in any proceeding, the trier of fact may consider any competent evidence, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The defendant has previously acted in concert with another person or persons in committing acts constituting theft, or any related offense, including any conduct that occurred in counties other than the county of the current offense, if relevant to demonstrate a fact other than the defendant’s disposition to commit the act.
(2) That the defendant used or possessed an artifice, instrument, container, device, or other article capable of facilitating the removal of merchandise from a retail establishment without paying the purchase price and use of the artifice, instrument, container, or device or other article is part of an organized plan to commit theft.
(3) The property involved in the offense is of a type or quantity that would not normally be purchased for personal use or consumption and the property is intended for resale.
(d) In a prosecution under this section, the prosecutor shall not be required to charge any other coparticipant of the organized retail theft.
(e) Upon conviction of an offense under this section, the court shall consider ordering, as a condition of probation, that the defendant stay away from retail establishments with a reasonable nexus to the crime committed.

(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
SECTION 1.Section 369d of the Penal Code is amended to read:
369d.

Any person who enters upon or crosses any railroad, at any private passway, which is enclosed by bars or gates, and neglects to leave the same securely closed after entering or crossing, is guilty of a misdemeanor.