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Burglary and Shoplifting

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From the California Supreme Court today in People v. Colbert, S238954:

In approving Proposition 47, the 2014 voter initiative that reclassified certain theft-related and drug-related felonies as misdemeanors, voters created a new misdemeanor offense called "shoplifting." (Pen. Code, § 459.5.) Shoplifting is defined as the act of entering a commercial establishment with intent to steal property while the establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property taken or intended to be taken is $950 or less--an act that had formerly been punishable as felony burglary. (Ibid.; see id., § 459.) This case presents a question concerning the line separating shoplifting from burglary: If a person enters a store during regular business hours but then proceeds to a private back office with intent to steal therefrom, which crime has he or she committed? We conclude that entering an interior room that is objectively identifiable as off-limits to the public with intent to steal therefrom is not shoplifting, but instead remains punishable as burglary.
Opinion by Justice Kruger, unanimous.

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