Under California Penal Code Section 484, burglary includes various criminal offences. Simply put, theft is taking another person’s personal property without their consent to alienate the rightful owner’s property. These are both administrative offences and serious crimes of varying severity, which without proper legal protection, can have serious criminal consequences; therefore, in such situations, it is essential to contact a criminal defense attorney for qualified legal assistance promptly.

Most common types of burglaries in California

Thefts

If someone steals $950 worth of property, it is considered petty theft and a petty misdemeanour. If you have ever been convicted of petty theft, you may be charged with a felony. Penalties for this offence include fines and imprisonment for up to six months.

Burglary

When a person breaks into an office or residential building to steal property, this is considered burglary. When the burglary location is a person’s residence, the violation may constitute a strike under California’s three-strikes law.

Robberies

Anyone who, using force, coercion or intimidation, takes possession of someone else’s property commits robbery. This is also considered a strike under California’s three-strikes law. The maximum criminal penalty for theft in California is nine years in prison.

Stealing

A person who misappropriates a trust’s personal property or steals property or money for personal purposes may be guilty of embezzlement, often found in workplaces where accountants accept bribes for financial gain.

Grand theft

It can be considered grand theft if someone steals something worth more than $950. Depending on the offence, you may be held criminally liable for that offence. Depending on the circumstances of the crime, you may be sentenced to a prison term of up to one year and other administrative consequences. A crime against public safety is defined in the doctrine of criminal law as a socially dangerous crime (intentional or unintentional) committed by the subject of the crime of encroachment on public (general) safety and violation of public (general) safety. Particular types of public safety, such as the safety of production, traffic and transport, are protected by special clauses of a specific section of the current criminal legislation.

Grand theft auto

Under California law, the theft of a car by another person is automatically considered robbery, regardless of the vehicle’s value.

Receipt by a person of property stolen by another person

When someone knowingly buys stolen items or passes them off as their own, it is just as illegal as stealing the item itself.

Get competent legal advice

Experienced theft lawyers must possess excellent knowledge and a thorough understanding of the legal system; this is extremely important to obtain successful legal results quickly.

Criminal law as a branch

Criminal law is one of the main branches of law. This system of norms determines whether socially dangerous acts are crimes and what punishment should be applied to those who commit them. The primary source of criminal law is the criminal code, which consists of several parts. The general interest of criminal law, which defines the principles of criminal responsibility, explains the concept of a prohibited act, describes the types and limits of punishments imposed for criminal offences, the principles of criminal responsibility, exemption from punishment, etc., in general, this is a necessary standard. Criminal responsibility for certain crimes is defined in a separate section of criminal law. Remember that only criminal law can qualify this or that as a crime. In the Criminal Code, an illegal act is a socially dangerous carelessness (action or inaction) committed by a person or group. The act or omission is not a crime, but due to its insignificance, it does not constitute a public threat. However, it contains the characteristics of behaviour prescribed by the criminal code. According to the degree of severity, criminal offences are divided into light, medium and especially serious. Minor offences are crimes punishable by a minimum term of imprisonment or other less severe penalties, except for serious fines.

Crimes of medium severity are crimes for which the principal punishment is imprisonment for up to five years. Severe criminal offences are those crimes where the chief sentence is imprisonment for an extended period. The degree of severity of the offence, for which the principal punishment is a combination of a fine and imprisonment, is determined by the length of detention for the committed crime. In addition, crimes can be completed or unfinished. A completed crime is an act containing all the features of a crime specified in the relevant articles of the particular part of this order. Initiated crime is preparation for a crime and a criminal organization. Preparation for a crime is the investigation or adjustment of measures or means, the search for accomplices or conspiracy to commit a crime, the removal of obstacles and the creation of other intentional conditions for the commission of a crime.

An attempt to commit a crime is a crime committed by a person with the intention of direct action (action or inaction) to directly engage in a crime, following the relevant article of the current criminal legislation. The attempted crime is considered complete when a person has taken all the necessary measures to achieve a prohibited act but did not complete it for reasons beyond his control. When a person does not take all the steps required to stop the crime for reasons independent of his will, the attempted crime is not considered completed. A person who voluntarily refuses to commit a crime bears criminal responsibility only if the act he committed contains signs of another crime. Voluntary refusal is the final cessation of preparation or attempts to commit a crime of one’s own free will, provided that one is aware of the possibility of committing a crime. A crime may be achieved by a group of persons previously linked by conspiracy or an organized criminal group. A crime is recognized as having been committed by a group of several (two or more) perpetrators participating in the commission of the offence without prior conspiracy. A crime is identified as having been committed by a group of persons based on a previous collaboration if it was committed jointly by two or more persons who agreed to commit the crime before the crime began. The composition of the crime is a set of objective and subjective signs that make it possible to qualify a socially dangerous act as a specific crime. The design of the offence consists of the following elements: object of the crime, objective aspects of the crime – socially dangerous acts, criminal legal consequences, the causal relationship between actions and results, place, time, method, environment, tools, and methods of committing crimes. The subject of the crime is a natural person, the age at which criminal liability arises, and the unique characteristics of the issue. Subjective aspects of the crime: guilt; motivation; goal; emotional condition. The absence of at least one of these signs indicates the lack of criminality in a person’s actions and excludes criminal liability.

For a crime to be recognized as a crime, it must contain the following features: public danger; the guilt of the criminal. The degree of shared risk is a criterion that should be used as a criterion for distinguishing crimes from other crimes. The set of features of the crime determines the degree of public danger. The value of the property affected by the crime. Harmfulness of the consequences of committing a crime, method of action, motivation of movement, form and degree of guilt. Criminal wrongdoing – indicates that only activities directly defined as illegal by the current criminal code are considered unlawful. Responsibility – suggests that an intentional or negligent act is considered a crime. The action may be socially dangerous, but it is not an innocent crime. Punishment as a feature of a crime indicates that the law establishes a specific type and duration for each crime. A misdemeanour is an activity that is less dangerous for society. They violate values protected by all other (except criminal) legal norms, including civil, administrative, labour, environmental and financial. Thus, administrative, disciplinary, constitutional, material and other applicable standards are distinguished. Socially dangerous acts (criminal acts) must be distinguished from socially harmful acts (administrative offences). The criteria for determining criminal from administrative offences are the degree of public danger, the extent of the damage caused, the crime’s purpose, and the crime’s consequences. A criminal offence differs from a civil offence in the nature and scope of the damage caused and the degree of public danger determined by how it was generated—investigation of crimes and misdemeanours.

As you know, criminal proceedings have several stages. The first is a pre-trial investigation. This is the stage of criminal proceedings, which begins with the entry of information about a criminal offence into the register and ends with the submission of applications for the termination of criminal prosecution or the sending of an indictment to the court with a statement on the opening of criminal proceedings.