In re Xavier H.
A petition filed under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, on December 4, 2007, alleged that the minor and appellant Xavier H. committed one count of grand theft of personal property (Pen. Code, 487, subd. (a)). The allegation arose out of the minors theft of cigarettes, having a value greater than $400, from a Los Angeles Police Department bait cara car that is being surveilled by police. On June 6, 2008, minor pleaded no contest to grand theft and the juvenile court ordered him placed home on probation. The court, however, failed to declare whether the grand theft is a misdemeanor or a felony.
Welfare and Institutions Code section 702 states in part that if the minor is found to have committed an offense which would in the case of an adult be punishable alternatively as a felony or a misdemeanor, the court shall declare the offense to be a misdemeanor or felony. Where such a wobbler offense is at issue, the provision requires an explicit declaration by the juvenile court. (In re Manzy W. (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1199, 1204.) Grand theft is a wobbler offense. Under Penal Code section 489, subdivision (b), grand theft is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison. The juvenile court was therefore required to declare the grand theft a misdemeanor or a felony.
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