California Penal Code 215 criminalizes the act of taking another party’s vehicle using physical violence or threatening harm. The offense is a felony that attracts at most nine years of prison incarceration after conviction. Therefore, when you discover you are under investigation or have been apprehended for carjacking, do not hesitate to contact a defense attorney for legal representation to prevent the harsh penalties of the crime. At the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, we will comprehensively guide you in understanding car theft laws, answer your questions, and defend you against the accusations in San Diego.
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Legal Definition of California Carjacking
PEN 215 outlines carjacking as the felonious taking of an auto in someone else’s possession through force or intimidation. Fear or physical force, in this case, refers to physical violence or threats of physical harm. You commit the crime by taking the automobile permanently or briefly, whether or not the person driving the car was the owner. Precisely put, carjacking, or a PC 215 violation, is the theft of a car in another person’s immediate vicinity, accomplished by physical violence or intimidation.
Carjacking Elements or Facts
Before blaming you for a carjacking offense and securing a guilty verdict, the District Attorney (DA) should prove particular facts of the case beyond moral certainty. The facts the DA must demonstrate before the court are:
- Another Party was in Immediate Possession of the Vehicle
It must be clear that you took the auto from someone’s immediate presence. The person could be the car driver or passenger. Many carjacking cases happen when criminals armed with firearms threaten the victim out of the car and drive off. In these circumstances, the auto is within the victim’s immediate person or presence.
The phrase “immediate presence or possession” means the auto was in the victim’s reach or observation and that they could have maintained possession were it not for your use of threats or force. The definition disapproves of the common misperception that carjacking happens only if the target is behind the wheel or in the car. The prosecutor can secure a guilty verdict if they can prove the automobile was in the alleged victim’s observation or control when you took it, even if they were not inside or driving.
- You Took the Car Against the Possessor’s Will
Taking the car against the victim’s will or without their permission means the alleged victim was against your conduct. Taking the auto means having control or reach of the motor car and moving it some distance, however slight. You will be convicted of a PEN 215 violation if the DA can show you drove the car a short distance. If the vehicle did not move after taking it without consent or against the passenger’s or driver’s will, you will face attempted carjacking counts.
Consent is something a person does freely or voluntarily, not under duress or fear. Therefore, the DA should prove to the court that the target did not act of free will or positively cooperate when you took the car. Unless the victim relinquished possession out of their free will or gave consent, this element of carjacking can easily be proved.
- You Utilized Fear or Physical Violence to Take the Auto or Prevent the Victim from Resisting
Fear and physical force have the same meaning in this statute. When threats cause intimidating fear effects, it amounts to the application of physical force or violence. Victims can surrender their vehicle to you for fear of injury to their person, assets, family, or individuals near the car theft scene.
The DA must show that you inflicted sufficient fear on the victim, coercing them to agree to your demands about their motor car. This fact of the crime is satisfied if the prosecutor can prove the threats or force you applied to the victim were sufficient to overcome their resistance to you taking the vehicle. Attempts by the alleged victim to resist the theft do not contradict the assertion that you applied threat or force to prevent the victim’s resistance.
Similarly, whether or not the victim consciously knew you were applying force or threats when taking the auto is not relevant to the case. For instance, the prosecutor will still secure a guilty verdict even if you stole the car while an infant was inside. The conviction will happen even if the infant in the vehicle did not comprehend your actions.
- You Planned on Temporarily or Permanently Depriving the Possessor of its Enjoyment
Carjacking is a type of theft crime that means that the DA must demonstrate your particular intent, plans, or motive to deny the victim car ownership or for good temporarily. Your intentions after the carjacking are irrelevant to the charges. Whether you planned on retaining the auto for yourself, borrowing it briefly, or selling it is irrelevant because the DA will still secure a guilty verdict.
Viable Defenses to Carjacking
If the DA demonstrates all the above elements, the court will convict you of carjacking. Luckily, with the help of an experienced theft crimes attorney like the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, you can avoid a conviction by poking holes in the evidence presented by the DA to support these elements. The defense strategies our defense attorney will utilize to contest the charges are:
There Was No Application of Physical Violence or Threats
One critical fact that the prosecutor must demonstrate in a PEN 215 breach is the application of threats or bodily force to coerce the victim into agreeing to your conditions. You can threaten the alleged victim by applying physical force or threatening to harm their family or property. Therefore, if you can show, through your attorney, that you never used threats or physical violence, the jury will not convict you of carjacking.
For instance, your attention is drawn to a car in a gas station. The owner has the car doors open and the car keys at the start. Because of your admiration for the auto, you enter the vehicle and flee, leaving the driver at the station. Under the circumstances, the jury cannot convict you of carjacking, as there was no use of threats or physical violence to take it. Nevertheless, you will be convicted of a lesser offense like joyriding, which has more lenient penalties than felonious carjacking.
The Owner Gave you Consent or Authorization to Take the Auto
Your attorney can also challenge the carjacking accusations by arguing that the alleged victim permitted or authorized you to take the car. Another essential carjacking element the prosecutor must show is that the car occupant did not consent to you taking the motor vehicle. The occupant can be the car owner, passenger, or driver. Therefore, if the occupant permitted you to take the car and bring it back later, you are innocent of carjacking.
A case in point: a friend agrees to your request to borrow their car for five hours. After receiving the vehicle, you drive off, and for whatever reason, you refuse to return the auto within the agreed duration. Under these circumstances, the friend can easily accuse you of a PEN 215 breach. Under the circumstances, you are innocent of the accusations because they permitted you to borrow their automobile. However, you will still not escape a guilty verdict for lesser offenses, like joyriding.
You are Falsely Accused or Misidentified
Misidentification is the primary cause of unjust carjacking sentences in the country. With the physical violence or threats involved in the crime, the victim can have a traumatic experience that impairs their ability to remember the physical appearance of the perpetrator. If you have some resemblance to the perpetrator, the victim can misidentify or falsely accuse you of the carjacking.
If your arrest and subsequent charges are because your physical description resembles the perpetrator’s, your attorney can help. Your attorney can use this defense by requesting the judge arrange a line-up to poke holes in the witness’s capability to perceive or identify you as the perpetrator. Additionally, an experienced attorney will call a witness expert to give their testimony on why identifications like the one that led to your charges are unreliable or inaccurate.
You Did Not Take the Auto from the Victim’s Immediate Person
Another crucial fact that the prosecutor proves in the carjacking charges is that you took the vehicle out of the victim’s immediate presence. If the car was outside the victim’s observation, reach, or control, the court cannot convict you of a PEN 215 violation. Nevertheless, the defense will not be viable if you take the auto from a passenger’s immediate presence.
Also, it is worth understanding that you risk a conviction for a PC 215 infringement even when the car belongs to you. The “claim of right” cannot work as a defense. Even when you own the vehicle in question, the law prohibits you from using force or threats to regain ownership or possession from another party. Carjacking is an offense against possession instead of ownership. Therefore, a “claim of right” cannot be a defense.
Carjacking Penalties
Prosecutors file carjacking as a felony, and if they prove the elements of the theft crime beyond a reasonable certainty, they will secure a guilty verdict, resulting in the following criminal penalties:
- 36, 60, or 108 months of prison incarceration.
- Financial court fines of no more than $10,000.
- Twelve to 60 months of formal probation in place of prison incarceration.
You face a carjacking count for every occupant of the vehicle during the carjacking. Therefore, your penalties will escalate if there are more carjacking victims.
Additionally, you risk a sentence or penalty enhancement under the following circumstances:
- An individual Sustains Substantial Bodily Harm
You will face sentence enhancement under PEN 12022.7 if someone suffers substantial physical harm during the carjacking event. If these injuries are involved, the court will impose an additional and subsequent prison incarceration of 36 to 72 months for the PEN 215 violation.
- Criminal Gang Enhancement
When the court proves that the car theft incident was intended to benefit, aid, or further gang activities, gang enhancement under PEN 186.22 will kick in. When convicted for gang enhancement, the court automatically imposes an extra and consecutive fifteen years of life incarceration on top of the carjacking penalties.
- You Utilized a Firearm in the Carjacking
Firearms pose a substantial threat to life. Therefore, when you utilize a gun to accomplish a carjacking crime, you risk sentence enhancement under PC 12022.53 if found guilty. If the prosecutor satisfactorily demonstrates that you violated PEN 12022.53, you will attract:
- An additional and successive ten years of prison incarceration for utilizing a firearm.
- An extra and consecutive 20 years in prison for firing the gun.
- An extra and consecutive 25 years to life incarceration for causing death or severe bodily injuries to a victim of the carjacking.
- Three Strikes Statutes
Carjacking is categorized as a violent felony, meaning that on top of the penalties for the baseline crime, the conviction will add a strike to your record. Again, a strike means you must complete 85% or more of your prison sentence before qualifying for parole.
When you are found guilty of a subsequent violent felony, leading to another strike on top of the previous history, the law classifies you as a second striker, doubling the sentence provided in the law for your crime.
A third felony charge, when you already have two strikes, will make you a third striker. Under the circumstances, you must complete at least 25 years to life imprisonment.
- Felony Murder Rule
You can also face penalty enhancement under the felony murder rule. It happens if in carjacking, someone is accidentally killed by you or an accomplice. Even if the murder was accidental, you will be criminally liable for first-degree homicide. You will face the additional charge regardless of whether the deceased was killed in the course of the crime of carjacking. If the death can be logically tied to the carjacking, the felony murder rule will apply.
For instance, when the occupant of the vehicle was scared by your threats or fear of physical harm leading to a heart attack, the rule will still apply even though the death was unintended.
- Immigration Consequences
A PEN 215 violation is a serious felony. Therefore, a guilty verdict can have detrimental effects on your immigration status because you could risk deportation or inadmissibility if you are an immigrant.
Carjacking as a Federal Offense
Carjacking is a state and federal crime. In California, the crime is outlined in PEN 215 at the federal level under U.S. Code Title 18, U.18,. 2119.
At the federal level, the DA must show that:
- You deliberately took a vehicle.
- You made use of physical force, threats, or intimidation to take the vehicle.
- The car was moved or transported interstate to sell it outside the country.
- When demanding the vehicle from the victim, you planned on causing severe injuries or death.
A conviction for the offense at this level attracts at most fifteen years in a federal prison and court fines of no more than $250,000.
If the said victim died during the commission of the offense, you risk life incarceration and, at most, $250,000 in court fines or both when convicted.
Related Offenses
The DA can charge several crimes alongside or instead of carjacking. These are:
Grand Theft Auto (GTA)
GTA is defined under PC 487(d)(1). Per the statute, it is unlawful to take someone’s vehicle worth at least $950 without consent and with the motive of depriving the owner of its benefits.
When prosecuting the crime, the DA should demonstrate that you took someone’s auto worth at least $950 without consent and intend to permanently deny the holder of it or take it away for a considerable time enough to rob the possessor of the auto enjoyment. Also, the DA should show you moved the car for some distance, however short.
GTA differs from carjacking in that you, the perpetrator, do not use physical force or fear. Again, to accomplish GTA, the prosecutor should demonstrate you had the motive to deny the car owner its use or benefits permanently.
Prosecutors file the crime as a wobbler and can prefer felony or misdemeanor charges depending on your unique circumstances and criminal record. A misdemeanor GTA attracts no more than twelve months in jail and court fines of at most $1,000.
A felony GTA conviction attracts 16, 24, or 36 months of jail incarceration and no more than $10,000 in court fines. It would help to know that if the vehicle’s worth is $65,000, you risk spending an extra twelve months in jail. You risk an additional 24 months of jail incarceration if the auto costs $200,000.
California Joyriding
Also called auto theft, joyriding happens when you illegally take a vehicle belonging to another party. The offense relates to carjacking in that you lack the motive of denying the possessor of it permanently. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you illegally drove or took an individual’s vehicle.
Joyriding is filed as a misdemeanor or felony. A guilty verdict for a misdemeanor offense attracts:
- No more than twelve months in jail.
- Court fines of no more than $5,000.
A felony conviction attracts:
- 16, 24, or 36 months of prison incarceration.
- 24, 36, or 48 months when you have been previously convicted of GTA or joyriding and that the vehicle you took or drove was for emergency response.
- Financial court fines of no more than $10,000.
Kidnapping While Engaging in Carjacking
According to PEN 209.5, it is unlawful to kidnap an individual in facilitation or during a carjacking by driving with the motorist or car occupants. This aggravated kidnapping type is commonly charged alongside carjacking. For the prosecutor to secure a guilty verdict for a PEN 209.5 violation, they should demonstrate that:
- You engaged in carjacking.
- You detained someone by inflicting substantial fear or applying physical force.
- You moved the alleged victim or caused them to move a reasonable distance past what is deemed incidental in the carjacking.
- You moved or made the said victim move with the motive of facilitating a carjacking to help you escape or deter the kidnapped party from alerting law enforcement.
- The movement elevated injury risk.
- The car occupant or driver was not among the carjackers.
The punishments for the PEN 209.5 breach include life incarceration without parole and a strike on your criminal record.
California Robbery
Per PEN 211, robbery refers to taking a person’s property from their immediate presence and accomplishing it using fear or physical violence.
Carjacking is robbing a party of their motor vehicle. However, legislators created PEN 215 to punish individuals who steal cars harshly. You can commit both robbery and carjacking if, for instance, you demand a wallet from a car driver before forcing them out of the vehicle and driving off. In this situation, the prosecutor will accuse you of robbery and carjacking.
A PC 211 violation is a felony that attracts 24 to 60 months in prison. However, when the court finds you guilty of the two offenses, they can only impose one sentence, and the other will be set aside.
Auto Burglary
PC 459 defines auto burglary as entering a locked auto with the motive of taking the car or property inside or engaging in a felony once inside. If the auto was locked during the carjacking, the prosecutor can bring carjacking and auto burglary charges.
A PEN 459 violation is a wobbler. A misdemeanor violation upon conviction attracts at most twelve months of jail incarceration, while a felony conviction attracts at most 36 months of prison sentence.
California Battery
The DA would add battery charges prescribed under PEN 242 to your carjacking charges if you utilized physical violence or threats to force the car driver or occupant of a vehicle outside or to another seat. A PEN 242 violation is a misdemeanor that attracts at most half a year of jail incarceration upon conviction.
It is worth understanding that when you cause substantial bodily harm to the said victim when forcing them out of the vehicle to accomplish carjacking using a firearm or weapon, you risk battery, causing significant bodily injury charges, or assault with a lethal weapon.
Find an Experienced Theft Crimes Attorney Near Me
A PEN 215 breach is a violent felony with life-changing consequences. With these penalties on the line, hiring a defense attorney for legal guidance and court representation is advisable. At the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, we understand carjacking and related crimes and will apply the knowledge for a favorable ruling. Call us today at 619-493-3461 to schedule a consultation in San Diego.