Theft cases are rarely about whether something moved. They are about intent, and about value — two things the prosecution asserts and the defense can test. A single number can be the difference between a misdemeanour and a felony, and that number is evidence, not a price tag.
What you’re facing
These are the things people actually say on the first call. Each one has an answer, and none of them require you to have decided anything yet.
Then intent is the whole case, and intent is provable in both directions. Scanner logs, the footage in full rather than the clip, the items actually bagged and what you did next are all evidence — and theft requires an intent to permanently deprive, which honest error negates.
Value means fair market value at the time, not the retail sticker. Condition, age, actual resale price and comparables are argued with evidence, and the $950 line moves with them — taking the felony with it.
Workplace accusations arrive with an internal investigation attached, and the statement given in that meeting becomes the case's first exhibit. Authorisation, accounting ambiguity and the difference between a dispute and a crime are all live — and often resolvable before filing.
Restitution matters, but paid informally it buys no protection and can read as an admission. Negotiated properly — through counsel, on the record, as part of a resolution — it becomes leverage instead of evidence.
Theft and fraud convictions are the ones background checks and licensing boards weigh most heavily, because they speak to honesty. That is why the wording of the disposition, and whether it can later be reduced or dismissed, is negotiated as hard as the sentence.
In these cases the record is the real stake. From the first call to the final petition you always know what is happening, why, and exactly what a background check will say when it is over.
Send the case review or call the 24/7 line. If nothing has been filed yet, that is the most valuable moment in the case.
Before charges are filed, a reviewing attorney decides what this becomes. Restitution, context and employment history put in front of that decision while it is open.
Footage in full, valuation evidence, authorisation and accounting records read together. Strategy and a flat fee confirmed in writing before anything is filed.
Diversion, dismissal, reduction under 17(b) — and then the petitions that clean what remains. Nothing is agreed without your say-so.
Attorney–client privilege attaches before you have hired anyone.
Where charges have not been filed, that window is worked before anything else.
Every position, plea and motion is explained and agreed first.
From the case files
A misdemeanor theft case dismissed on completing a theft class and community service — and a felony welfare-fraud matter reduced to a misdemeanor, then dismissed. December 2025.
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Charged with four strikes and ten felonies and facing 21 years in state prison, the client left with no jail and no prison time — probation and community labor. June 2026.
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Two matters in July 2026, six counts between them — judicial diversion granted on every count, with all charges to be dismissed in one year.
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A felony assault case rejected by the District Attorney on the first scheduled court date — July 2026. A battery matter was likewise rejected pre-arraignment after a mitigation package.
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Two felony criminal-threats counts — both strikes — reduced to misdemeanors at the preliminary hearing, with judicial diversion granted and dismissal in twelve months. March 2026.
↗Discuss your caseResults drawn from the firm's published Avvo case results (2025–2026). Case results depend on the unique facts and law of each case. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
First hours
Most of these are unrecoverable once done — and the prefile window is open right now, not later.
Stage by stage
Six stages, and the quietest one comes first. This is the shape from the report to the day the record is cleared.
| Case reference | PC 484/490.2 petty | PC 487 grand theft | PC 459 burglary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severity | Misdemeanour | Wobbler | 2nd degree wobbler; 1st degree felony |
| Value threshold | $950 or less | Over $950 — fair market value | Value not an element |
| Custody exposure | ≤ 6 months | ≤ 1 yr, or 16 mo–3 yrs | ≤ 1 yr, or up to 6 yrs (1st degree) |
| Strike? | No | No | Residential (1st degree) is a serious felony |
Statutory ranges only — exposure moves with priors, alleged loss, enhancements and county practice. Confirm against current statute before relying on any entry here.
Where cases turn
No defense is generic. These are the places theft and fraud cases most often turn once the footage, the records and the valuation evidence are read side by side.
Start your case review →→Theft requires an intent to permanently deprive, formed at the time. Self-checkout error, ambiguous authorisation, a genuine belief in a right to the property — each negates the element, and context evidence is admissible to prove it.
Fair market value at the time of the taking controls, not the retail price. Condition, age, depreciation and actual resale comparables are argued — and the felony/misdemeanour line moves with the number.
Loss-prevention cases are built on an edited excerpt. The complete footage before and after routinely shows scanning attempts, hesitation, or payment — and it is obtained by demand, not by request.
Embezzlement requires entrustment plus conversion. Where the practice at the workplace was looser than the policy, or authority was implied, the line between a dispute and a crime is genuinely contested.
Shared devices, stored credentials, family access and actual data breaches all sit between an account and a defendant. The People must connect a person to the keystrokes.
Penal Code 1377–1378 allows certain misdemeanours to be dismissed where the victim acknowledges satisfaction. It is not available in every case, but where it is, it is the cleanest ending there is.
A charge that reduces under 17(b), or resolves to a non-theft offense, reads entirely differently to an employer or a licensing board. Wording is negotiated, not accepted.
The elements, presumptions and instruction references — folded so the page stays a page. General information only; confirm against current statute before relying on any of it.
CALCRIM 1800
CALCRIM 1700, 1703
Go deeper
The pages below go charge by charge. Each will carry the same structure as this one: what it is in plain English, what it carries, and where it is fought.
PC 459.5
Shoplifting Entry during business hours, $950 or less — the misdemeanour Prop 47 created. Page in preparation
PC 487
Grand theft Over the $950 line — where valuation evidence does the heaviest lifting. Page in preparation
PC 459
Burglary Entry with intent. Residential is a serious felony; commercial is a wobbler. Page in preparation
PC 503
Embezzlement Entrustment plus conversion — the workplace case where authorisation is everything. Page in preparation
PC 470
Forgery A wobbler where knowledge and intent to defraud are the contested elements. Page in preparation
PC 530.5
Identity theft Wilful use of another's information — where access, devices and attribution are fought. Page in preparation
Common questions
Value over $950, measured by fair market value at the time of the taking rather than the retail price. Condition, age and real resale value are argued with evidence, and the answer moves the case between a misdemeanour and a wobbler.
Often, yes — through diversion where a county programme applies, civil compromise under Penal Code 1377 in eligible cases, or an intent defense where the footage supports it. No outcome is guaranteed; which routes are open depends on the facts and the record.
Not before speaking to counsel. Those letters are civil claims, separate from the criminal case, and paying one does not end the prosecution. It can also be characterised unhelpfully if handled without advice.
That is the most valuable time to have one. Internal interviews produce the statements the case is later built on, and a prefile submission can shape or prevent the filing decision entirely.
Theft and fraud offenses weigh heavily with employers and licensing boards because they bear on honesty. That is why reduction under 17(b) is pursued from the start where the charge allows it.
Nothing is required. Most useful: any citation or case number, the civil demand letter if one arrived, receipts or records bearing on value or authorisation, and the names of anyone present.
Before it is filed · the cheapest place to end it
The first conversation is free, confidential, and with Aaron — not an intake service. If nothing has been filed yet, we will tell you what a prefile submission can still do.
Draft — pending firm verification
Prepared 28 July 2026 by ByteZero Marketing for review by the Law Office of Aaron P. McAllister.
Primary sources: Pen. Code §§ 484, 487, 490.2, 459, 459.5, 470, 503, 530.5, 1377–1378, 17(b); Prop 47 (2014); CALCRIM 1700, 1703, 1800, 1806.
Figures are statutory ranges and are affected by priors, enhancements, and county practice.
Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created by reading it.
To be revisited if the statutes, jury instructions, or county procedures change.