People v. Vandiver
People v. Vandiver
Opinion of the Court
In this appeal, the parties ask us to determine the value of a blank check for the purpose of distinguishing between misdemeanor and felony receiving stolen property after passage of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47).
Respondent, Angela Kay Vandiver, pled guilty in 2012 to a single felony count of receiving stolen property based on her possession of blank checks she knew had been stolen. She later petitioned to have the conviction redesignated a misdemeanor under the new provisions of Proposition 47 on the ground the checks were worth $950 or less. (Pen. Code, § 1170.18.) The People opposed, arguing the balance of the victim's checking account was greater than $950. The trial court found the value of the blank checks to be de minimis and granted the petition.
The People contend the court erred by (i) reaching the merits because Vandiver did not attach evidence of value to her petition and (ii) determining the checks' value was de minimis. They contend the court should have dismissed the petition as unsupported or found the checks were worth the full amount in the linked checking account and denied the petition on the merits. We affirm.
I
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On November 7, 2012, police found Vandiver in possession of 10 blank checks belonging to another person (the victim).
The same day, the investigating officer contacted the victim, who reported "she and her family had recently closed a Citibank account because of Fraud. She [said] they had complained to the bank after not receiving the checks they ordered. When they went to the bank to follow-up, the family learned that somebody had drawn nearly $3000 dollars from the account. [She] said [neither] she, nor her family gave anybody permission to take or use the checks. [She] felt it was most likely the checks were taken from their mailbox."
Vandiver talked to police after waiving her Miranda rights.
*357The Riverside County District Attorney accused Vandiver of felony receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a);
On November 21, 2012, Vandiver pled guilty to felony receiving stolen property and admitted the prison prior. At the plea hearing, the trial court asked, "Is it true that on November 7, 2012 of this year, in the county of Riverside, you had somebody else's checks?" She replied, "Yes, sir." The court found a factual basis for the plea and accepted it.
The trial court sentenced Vandiver to a midterm of two years in county jail (§ 1170, subd. (h)) on count 1 and an additional year (consecutive) for the enhancement. The court suspended execution of the final 18 months of the sentence and ordered 18 months of supervised release.
On November 4, 2014, the voters of California passed Proposition 47, reducing some felony theft-related offenses-including receiving stolen property-to misdemeanors when the value of the stolen property does not exceed $950. The initiative also created a procedure allowing offenders to petition to designate eligible felony convictions misdemeanors and obtain resentencing if they "would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under" the provisions added by Proposition 47. (§ 1170.18, subds. (a), (f).)
On August 3, 2015, Vandiver filed a petition asking the trial court to designate her receiving stolen property conviction a misdemeanor under section 1170.18. The petition declares "defendant believes the value of the check or property does not exceed $950." The prosecution responded Vandiver was not entitled to relief because the stolen checks came from an account whose balance was greater than $950. The prosecution requested a hearing limited to the value of the checks.
On February 26, 2016, the trial court held a hearing. The prosecution contended "the value of the checks should be what is in the account" and submitted an affidavit from the victim saying the account contained $3000 at the time the checks were stolen. The trial court consulted its own records, which included the police report. The report said the checks were blank, the victim had closed the associated account before Vandiver's arrest, and Vandiver said she had not used any of the victim's checks. In addition, the police report attached a copy of one of the victim's checks showing it was blank and unendorsed. The trial court noted drug addicts sell stolen blank checks for any amount they can get. The prosecutor conceded the checks were not written out and there was no evidence Vandiver had used any checks to take money from the account, but insisted the checks "are worth whatever is in the account."
The trial court found the checks were worth a de minimis amount and granted the petition. It deemed count 1 a misdemeanor, *358and ordered the prison prior stricken.
On April 22, 2016, the People filed a notice of appeal.
II
DISCUSSION
A. Petitioner's Burden
The People contend the trial court erred in granting the petition because Vandiver's " section 1170.18 petition failed to present any evidence regarding the underlying facts of her section 496 conviction." In effect, the People contend the trial court abused its discretion by reaching the merits of the petition without first finding she had made out a prima facie case of entitlement to resentencing.
We have concluded elsewhere section 1170.18 cannot be read to limit the trial court's discretion as the People propose. (People v. Abarca (2016)
Recently, the Supreme Court issued an opinion approving the trial court's approach. In People v. Romanowski (2017)
B. The Value of Blank Checks
The People contend the trial court erred in valuing the blank checks. They argue the court should have determined the stolen checks exceeded $950 in value on the ground the account linked to the checks contained $3,000. Again, we find no error.
Before the electorate passed Proposition 47, a violation of section 496, subdivision (a) could be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor, at the discretion of the prosecutor. However, Proposition 47 amended the provision to require any violation be treated as a misdemeanor "if the value of the property does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950)." (§ 496, subd. (a).) We review the trial court's interpretation of *359this provision de novo and its findings of fact for substantial evidence. (People v. Rizo (2000)
"The means of valuing stolen property is settled under the theft statutes." (People v. Swanson (1983)
The People contend the trial court erred by failing to conclude, under the fair market value test, the checks Vandiver had in her possession had "the value of the linked bank account to which the check provides access." Relying on an affidavit signed by the victim, they represent "the account attached to the blank checks here was active, and if accessed, held over $3,000." They conclude the value of the checks exceeded $950, rendering Vandiver's conviction ineligible under section 1170.18. We find the People's argument unpersuasive on both the law and the facts.
First, the People offer neither authority nor analysis to support their contention the victim would have been able to obtain $3,000 from a willing buyer for a blank, unendorsed check from her account. We doubt a convincing case can be made for the position. Only an account holder can use a check to legally access the funds in the linked account. The People have provided no basis for thinking any buyer-never mind a willing one-would pay the full balance of an account in return for a check the buyer could not legally use to access its funds. A check cashing business pays only a portion of the face value for a check that is properly made out and endorsed, keeping the remainder as its fee. (See People v. Smith (2016)
The People's position improperly pegs the value of a blank check at its potential value to the account holder , which is the wrong measure as a matter of law. "The value to be placed upon stolen articles for the purpose of establishing a felony charge is the fair market value of the property and not the value of the property to any *360particular individual ." (People v. Lizarraga (1954)
Second, even if we were to accept the People's position the fair market value of a blank check equals the amount in the linked account, we would conclude the trial court did not err. The investigating officer reported he contacted the victim the same day he found Vandiver with the checks. She told him "her family had recently closed [the] Citibank account" because they never received their checks and "[w]hen they went to the bank to follow-up, the family learned that somebody had drawn nearly $3000 dollars from the account." Thus, the police report establishes the victim had closed her bank account before Vandiver was arrested in possession of the checks. Moreover, as the People conceded in the trial court, there is no evidence Vandiver was the person who used checks to take money from the account. At the time of the offense, then, the $3,000 had been removed from the linked account and the account had been closed. The victim's affidavit is not to the contrary. In it, she says she "had over $3000 in the account at the time the checks were stolen ," not at the time Vandiver was found to possess checks previously stolen. Thus even accepting the People's theory of valuation, the trial court's value finding was based on substantial evidence.
Vandiver's contention blank checks are worth a de minimis amount finds support in the case law. The Third Appellate District has considered whether a defendant was entitled to have his felony conviction for possessing a blank check with intent to defraud (§ 475, subd. (b)) designated a misdemeanor under the forgery punishment provision as it was amended by Proposition 47 (§ 473, subd. (b)). (People v. Gonzales (2016)
After we invited supplemental briefing on the fair market value of stolen blank checks, the People argued we should "look to the black market value of such a stolen blank check." The People direct us to authorities permitting such evidence in other jurisdictions. (See, e.g., United States v. Luckey (9th Cir. 1981)
We see no principled reason to treat stolen checks differently than access card information just by virtue of their being blank and unendorsed. It may be, as a factual matter, there is no black market for stolen blank checks or that any such market is so unstable there is no meaningfully reliable way "to identify how much stolen [blank checks] would sell for." (Romanowski ,
III
DISPOSITION
We affirm the order.
We concur:
HOLLENHORST, Acting P.J.
MILLER, J.
We grant the People's motion to augment the record with the police report and an affidavit submitted by the victim, both part of the record below.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Unlabeled statutory citations refer to the Penal Code.
The complaint included additional charges not relevant to the appeal.
Originally, we rejected evidence of black market value as relevant to the determination of the reasonable fair market value of stolen blank checks. After the Supreme Court issued Romanowski, we vacated our original opinion to make it consistent with that decision.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.