Many people think of video games when they hear “grand theft auto.” However, grand theft auto is a severe criminal offense in the real world. For some people, an automobile is a valued possession. For many of them, it is essential for going to and from work and taking care of their children. It is, therefore, not a surprise that, per California law, stealing a person's car comes with severe consequences.

If you are under prosecution for grand theft auto, you want to contact a theft crimes attorney as soon as possible. A skilled criminal defense attorney will work to reduce your charges, demonstrate your innocence, or minimize the penalties of a conviction. When you are called to defend yourself before the court, it is essential to have an experienced lawyer by your side to speak for you.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we have extensive experience defending clients charged with grand theft auto and other theft crimes. We will fight to protect your rights and defend your best interests, achieving the best possible outcome for your case.

The California Grand Theft Auto Law

Theft in California generally falls into two classes: grand theft and petty theft. The difference between the two is the value of the stolen property. Petty theft is described as illegally taking a person's property worth less than 950 dollars.

Grand theft occurs when someone steals services or property worth nine hundred and fifty dollars or more and is punished under PC 487. If the stolen property is a vehicle, the violation automatically becomes grand theft auto, also known as GTA, and is penalized under Section 487(d)(1) of the Penal Code.

Generally, GTA legally means taking another person's car without their permission, intending to deprive them of it permanently. Put otherwise; it is stealing someone's vehicle, aiming to keep it permanently.

Because very few vehicles (at least, those that would be worth trying to steal, to begin with) are worth below 950 dollars, just about any vehicle theft incident in California qualifies as GTA when the prosecution considers charges.

Elements of The Crime

Before the judge can pronounce you guilty of GTA, the prosecuting attorney must prove various facts beyond a reasonable doubt. These facts are referred to as the elements making up the crime, and they are as follows:

  • You took someone else’s motor vehicle.
  • The owner did not permit you to take their automobile.
  • When you made away with the automobile, you aimed to permanently deny the actual owner ownership rights or take it from them for a long enough period that they would be denied a substantial percentage of its value and enjoyment.
  • You did move the vehicle (regardless of the distance), and it remained under your control for a given period (however short).

According to the above factors, the D.A. must show you took someone else's car without their consent, intending to deny them its possession permanently. Put otherwise; they must prove your intention or what you thought when you stole the car.

A prevalent example where the prosecution could demonstrate intent is a case where you stole a car and took it to a chop shop to be disassembled for auto parts and later sold. This incident would undoubtedly demonstrate the intention to permanently deny the vehicle's owner possession, and GTA would be the appropriate charge. In other cases, it may be challenging for the D.A. to prove the specific intent.

The above elements constitute the legal meaning of the prevalent form of GTA—vehicle theft by larceny. But you could also be charged with GTA by engaging yourself in these activities:

  • Using false pretense (deceit or lies) to convince a car owner to transfer ownership rights to their vehicle to you.
  • Tricking a person into allowing you to possess their auto.
  • Using embezzlement or abusing someone's trust to steal their vehicle.

Actions that constitute GTA charges include:

  • Stealing another person's car, intending to sell it to someone else, but you change your mind and just abandon it (since you intended to deny the owner permanent possession of their vehicle, your action would be deemed GTA).
  • You spot an expensive vehicle parked across the road. You check it, and the engine is on, though no one is inside. You jump in the vehicle and drive off, meaning to keep it permanently.
  • You offer to purchase a vehicle from your friend but do not intend to make payments. Once you have the automobile, you drive away and ignore your friend's calls about making payments.

GTA vs. Joyriding

GTA and joyriding are California crimes with similar definitions but differing in various aspects. Joyriding, under VC 10851, means taking or driving a person's car without their authorization and intending to deprive them of it for a particular period.

Considering the above definition, the major difference between joyriding and GTA is that for GTA, you must intend to take the motor vehicle permanently from the owner or for a period long enough to deny the owner its substantial enjoyment and value. In contrast, for a VC 10851 violation, you only have to intend to take the car from the owner for any given period, be it thirty minutes or even less.

Another difference between GTA and joyriding is that you are guilty of violating PC 487(d)(1) even if the car's owner had permitted you to drive it, provided you obtained the authorization through fraud, trickery, or false pretenses. But for VC 10851 violations, if the car's owner had permitted you to take it, you would not be convicted, whether or not you were deceitful or fraudulent in acquiring that permission.

Hotwiring an automobile is a prevalent technique for accomplishing the joyriding or GTA crime.

Fighting PC 487(d)(1) Violation Charges

Vehicle theft can be a serious crime. Luckily, with assistance from a seasoned defense attorney in arguing various legal defenses, the prosecution can dismiss or reduce your charges. Some of the valid defenses that can apply to your case include:

False Accusations

Like all crimes, GTA charges often involve wrongful accusations. Perhaps your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend had permitted you to use their car and later attempted to withdraw that consent after a disagreement. In that case, an experienced criminal defense lawyer can assist you in piecing together the essential facts and poking holes in the prosecutor's evidence to ensure justice is served. 

You Believed You Owned The Car

You cannot be pronounced guilty of vehicle theft if the automobile you took was yours. You also cannot be found guilty of GTA if you reasonably believed the car was yours, whether or not your reasonable belief was true. Your lawyer may successfully show that you had a reasonable belief, even though it was later proven to be mistaken, that the car was yours.

This is called the claim of right defense. If your defense counsel manages to cast doubt on the prosecution's evidence using this defense, you may avoid a guilty verdict, or the D.A. may lower your charges. This defense aims to show a good-faith belief that you did not mean to take the car. Instead, you thought the car was rightfully yours.

You Lacked Intent

If you have been charged with GTA, you can successfully fight your charges by asserting that you never intended to steal the vehicle. Like other crimes involving grand theft, intent is a critical element of the definition of the GTA offense. However, remember that this defense does not work with VC 10851 violation charges because proving intent to take the motor vehicle is unnecessary under that statute.

If your defense counsel can persuade the prosecution that it does not have sufficient evidence to prove intent, your GTA charges may be reduced to joyriding, which is mostly a misdemeanor violation that carries a lenient sentence and will not be problematic as far as your criminal record is concerned.

You Had The Owner’s Consent

Based on your case, your lawyer may successfully argue that you had permission or reasonably believed you had permission from the car's owner to take it. Perhaps the car owner permitted you to borrow the car but did not agree on the exact time to return it. Or perhaps there was a misunderstanding, and you had a reason to believe you had permission to take the car but did not intend to steal it.

Consequences of GTA

GTA is one of grand theft offenses and is punishable similarly to grand theft. GTA is, therefore, a wobbler, meaning the prosecutor can file felony or misdemeanor charges based on various factors, like the circumstances surrounding the violation and the accused's criminal history. If convicted of a felony violation, the punishment will include three years, two years, or sixteen months in county jail, not more than $10,000 in fines, or both the fine and jail time.

If there is a prior vehicle theft conviction on your record, your incarceration period will rise to four, three, or two years, per Penal Code Section 666.5. Finally, if you stole a specifically expensive vehicle, you could face an additional, consecutive prison term of:

  • Twelve more months if the auto was valued at over $65,000.
  • Twenty-four more months if the vehicle was valued at over $200,000.

Violating the joyriding law is also considered a wobbler. Nevertheless, unlike the GTA offense, prosecutors usually file misdemeanor charges if it is a first-time joyriding offense. If you face misdemeanor violation charges and are later convicted, the maximum consequences include a period not exceeding 12 months in jail and a court fine of not more than $5,000.

However, the district attorney can always file felony joyriding charges. If they do, you could be subject to three years, two years, or sixteen months in jail and a fine not exceeding $10,000.

The consequences for joyriding could be enhanced if the motor vehicle you made off with was an identifiable firefighting or police car on an emergency call, an ambulance on an emergency call, or an automobile modified to be used by the disabled and displayed a differentiating placard or license plate.

In these cases, you will be subject to felony joyriding charges. A conviction is punishable by four, three, or two years in custody and a fine not exceeding $10,000. However, this additional punishment applies only if you knew the car fell under these categories or there was a reasonable fact suggesting so.

The consequences for a PC 10851 violation will increase if one or several of these exist on your existing criminal record:

  • At least one previous felony joyriding conviction.
  • At least one past felony GTA conviction.
  • At least one past conviction for making away with cargo worth over 950 dollars, violating PC 487h.

If any of the prior convictions mentioned above are on your criminal record, your joyriding charge will automatically be a felony, and the consequences will include four, three, or two years of incarceration and a fine not exceeding $10,000.

Crimes Related to GTA

Several crimes are related to GTA charges. Therefore, these crimes can sometimes be charged in place of or alongside GTA. Examples of these violations are:

PC 496, Receiving Stolen Property

PC 496 criminalizes buying, receiving, concealing, selling, or withholding property you know is stolen. According to California law, you cannot be criminally liable for both the actual stealing of the property and receiving stolen property. So, you may not face charges simultaneously under PC 487(d)(1) and PC 496.

However, this is not the same for joyriding charges. If you purchase or receive an auto you know is stolen and drive it around, you might face 496 PC charges (for buying or receiving the vehicle) and joyriding charges (for driving a stolen car without authorization).

But it is challenging to know whether or not the presiding judge can find you guilty of both joyriding and violating PC 496. Generally, if you receive, keep, or assist someone in concealing a stolen motor vehicle and are accused of illegally driving it for an utterly unrelated act, usually transpiring on a different date, you can be considered criminally liable for joyriding and a PC 496 violation.

PC 215, Carjacking

If you allegedly took a person's vehicle directly from them using bodily force or threatened them with using bodily force to make them give you the automobile, you could face both grand theft auto and carjacking charges.

PC 215 is considered a felony. A conviction carries a prison term of up to nine years. Carjacking is also deemed a violent crime under California law, which means it is classified as a strike per the state's Three Strikes law. Consequently, it is essential to fight these charges if accused under the grand theft auto and carjacking laws.

PC 459, Auto Burglary and Burglary

PC 459 defines burglary as breaking and entering a house, building, or any other structure, intending to steal or perpetrate a felony while inside. Auto burglary has the same definition, except this crime entails breaking and entering a vehicle to steal or perpetrate a felony.

So, say, for example, you are caught entering a person's garage intending to take their vehicle. In this case, you may face both burglary charges (for breaking into the garage) and GTA charges (for stealing the motor vehicle). Or, say, for example, you broke into a vehicle with the specific intent to make off with it. In this case, you might be accused of auto burglary, whether or not you succeeded in taking the car.

A PC 459 violation is deemed a felony. Possible consequences of a conviction include up to three years in custody. The sentence could increase to not more than six years of incarceration if you broke and entered a trailer or lived-in house (where somebody lives).

PC 490.2 and PC 488, Petty Theft

If you stole an auto worth 950 dollars, you will face petty theft rather than GTA charges. This is the case for all the accused persons except those that have had sex crime convictions that necessitate them to comply with the sex offender registration requirement and those that have been convicted of certain felony offenses, including rape, sexually violent crimes, child molestation, or murder.

Petty theft is considered a misdemeanor. A conviction carries up to six months in jail and a fine not exceeding $1,000. Note that before the enactment of Prop 47, all auto theft cases were deemed GTA, irrespective of the stolen vehicle's value. So, if you were convicted of a felony GTA offense for stealing an auto worth less than $950, you could appeal your sentence per Prop. 47.

How Else Can A Defense Lawyer Help You?

Even though you can represent yourself in your GTA case, you may not achieve your desired outcome by yourself. So many things are involved in fighting GTA charges that you need professional legal help. Even if you believe you are innocent and the case seems straightforward, depending on your efforts alone could be a mistake. An attorney understands the ins and outs of the criminal justice system and how to choose the best line of defense. Additionally, a lawyer can help you in the following ways:

Investigating the Case

Once they take your case, your lawyer will investigate to establish loopholes that may help prevent a guilty verdict or negotiate a reduced sentence. The investigation may involve talking to law enforcement and witnesses, reviewing evidence, and gathering available case details. The lawyer will also review the D.A.'s case to determine an opportunity to strengthen your defense.

Handling Paperwork

All criminal cases involve so much paperwork. Errors in collecting, completing, and filing documents may jeopardize your defense. A lawyer will handle all the paperwork related to your case, so you need not worry about it.

Offering an Objective Perspective

As a layperson, you may not understand your legal options. You may be preparing for a serious punishment or hoping for unrealistic results. A lawyer understands precisely how the law applies to your case. By holding a comprehensive consultation, an attorney can assist you in making decisions and understanding what to anticipate. They will review your situation objectively and help you make ideal case-related choices.

Negotiating With The Prosecutor

An attorney can minimize the consequences of your case by negotiating a deal with the prosecution. They can use their expertise and experience to negotiate a plea deal and assist in minimizing the sentence.

Providing Emotional Support

Your GTA charges may undoubtedly be stressful for you. You may feel fear, emotional distress, anxiety, and diminished self-esteem during the court process. A lawyer can respond to all your questions and offer emotional support throughout the case. They can minimize stress and assist you in coping with the potential consequences.

Ending the Case Before the Prosecution Files Charges

A lawyer may make your case go away before the prosecution files charges. If you call an attorney as soon as you have been arrested, they might still have ample time to collect evidence that prevents the D.A. from pressing charges, to begin with. Quick actions may also result in a charge reduction. For example, arguments and evidence by the lawyer may persuade the D.A. to file misdemeanor rather than felony charges.

Find an Experienced Theft Crimes Attorney Near Me

Being accused of GTA is a serious matter. Any GTA conviction can have far-reaching repercussions, including losing or being denied a professional license and employment. However, an experienced theft crime lawyer can make all the difference in the outcome of your case. If you are under investigation or have been accused of GTA, you want to consult with an attorney to determine your legal options.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we have decades of experience defending against GTA and other theft crimes for clients charged in Bakersfield. We are aggressive lawyers who will fight to obtain the best possible outcome. To protect your legal rights, do not speak to anyone regarding your charges until you have spoken with us. Contact us today at 661-750-8230 to schedule a cost-free consultation to discuss the facts of your case.