Reference no: EM131713153

Summarize THE PEOPLE, v. FARELL White Collar Crime Case.

We determined Penal Code section 1203.044 requires the imposition of a minimum jail sentence as a condition of probation upon conviction of certain theft offenses, applies to the theft of property other than money, including trade secrets. April 18, 1997, the complaint was filed charging the defendant with the theft of a trade secret, it was further alleged as a sentence enhancement that the loss exceeded $2.5 million. a restriction on the granting of probation that the theft was of an amount exceeding $100,000. The defendant pleaded no contest and objected to the potential application of section 1203.044. A hearing was held whether section 1203.044 applies to the theft of property other than money, including trade secrets. The court concluded provision applies to the theft of property of a certain value, including trade secrets. The court suspended imposition and placed the defendant on probation for a period of three years on condition that he serve three months in jail, with credit for time served. The defendant stands convicted of theft, a person is guilty of theft with intent to deprive or withhold the control of a trade secret to the use of stealing, carries away, or use without authorization, a trade secret. The statute defines the term trade secret as information, formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that: derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. The trial court determined that section 1203.044 applies to such a theft. This statute, entitled The Economic Crime Law of 1992, requires that a defendant who is convicted of theft offenses and probation shall be sentenced at least 90 days in the jail as a condition of probation. The statute provides this section shall apply to a defendant convicted of a felony for theft of an amount exceeding $50,000 in a single transaction. This section shall not apply unless the fact that the crime involved the theft of an amount exceeding $50,000 in a single transaction charged in the accusatory pleading and either admitted by the defendant. It examined the words and the legislative history of the enactment and concluding the statute is at best ambiguous. The Legislature intends to deter that crime by ensuring that every offender, without exception, serves at least some time in jail and by requiring the offenders to divert a portion of their future resources to the payment of restitution to their victims. White collar criminals granted probation too often complete their probation without having compensated their victims or society. The Legislature has applied the term "white collar crime" to fraud and embezzlement a statute that provides for enhanced prison terms for recidivists committing these offenses when the offense involves a pattern of "taking of more than one hundred thousand dollars." The crime of theft includes a wide range of property and the term "white collar crime" has a broad meaning, we find it improbable that the Legislature intended to address only the theft of cash or cash equivalents. From the usual meaning of the terms used in section 1202.044, the purpose of the enactment, and the Legislature's parallel use of the same terms in other statutes, one must conclude that section 1203.044 is not limited to thefts of cash or cash equivalents. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed.