Bill Text: CA AB1698 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Package Theft Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1698 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB1698-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 10, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1698

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Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

January 25, 2022

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An act to add and repeal Section 490.3 of the Penal Code, relating to theft.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1698, as amended, Maienschein. Organized Package Theft Act.

Existing law makes mail theft a crime, punishable by a fine, by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both a fine and imprisonment. Existing federal law also makes mail theft a crime, punishable by a fine, imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

This bill would, until January 1, 2026, make a person guilty of organized package theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified, if the person acted in concert with one or more persons to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, with the intent to sell or return the contents of the package for value, acted in concert with 2 or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess a package or the contents of a package knowing or believing it to have been stolen, acted as an agent of another to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, as part of an organized plan to commit theft, or recruited, coordinated, organized, supervised, directed, managed, or financed another to undertake acts of package theft. package theft, a misdemeanor, if they enter the curtilage of a home and commit theft of a package shipped through the mail or delivered by a public or private carrier. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated program.

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.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Organized Package Theft Act.

SEC. 2.Section 490.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

490.3.

(a)A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of organized package theft, and shall be punished pursuant to subdivision (b):

(1)Acts in concert with one or more persons to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, with the intent to sell, exchange, or return the contents of the package for value.

(2)Acts in concert with two or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess a package or the contents of a package 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 one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, 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 packages.

(b)Organized package 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 contents of the packages 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.

(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, both 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 a package that has been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, and use of the artifice, instrument, container, or device or other article is part of an organized plan to commit theft.

(d)In a prosecution under this section, the prosecutor shall not be required to charge any other coparticipant of the organized package 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 a residence or other place commonly used to deliver packages when the location has 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.

 Section 490.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

490.3.

 (a) A person who enters the curtilage of a home and commits theft of a package shipped through the mail or delivered by a public or private carrier is guilty of package theft and shall be punished pursuant to subdivision (c).

(b) For the purposes of this section, “curtilage” means an area adjacent to or in the immediate area of a home, and to which the activity of home life extends, including, but not limited to, a porch, doorstep, patio, stoop, driveway, hallway, or enclosed yard.

(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a violation of this section is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(2) If a violation of this section is committed by a person acting in concert with one or more other persons, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(d) This section does not constitute a change in, and does not expand or limit the scope of conduct prohibited by, Section 487.

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

SEC. 3.

 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.