Carjacking refers to taking another’s vehicle against his/her will to deprive the individual of the vehicle temporarily or permanently. In most cases, perpetrators take the car through fear or force. Because of the risk of harm to the victim of carjacking incidents, law enforcement officers and prosecutors aggressively pursue suspected carjacking perpetrators. Engaging a Santa Ana attorney at the initial stages proves pivotal for your defense, and California Criminal Lawyer Group can help.

Understanding Carjacking Laws

Carjacking may be likened to robbery with special circumstances. The comparison holds because, in both robbery and carjacking cases, the perpetrator intends to temporarily or permanently deprive the vehicle off its possessor. However, carjacking cases are particular to cars, and victims of the crime have to be present during the crime.

Penal Code 215 criminalizes carjacking. Further, its definition of the crime provides the elements prosecutors need to prove to secure a conviction. It should be proven beyond reasonable doubt that:

  • You willfully took the vehicle from the immediate presence of another. The individual can be either in possession of the car or a passenger.
  • The vehicle did not belong to you
  • You took the car against the victim’s will
  • You used fear or force to intimidate the victim and prevent them from resisting.
  • You intended to permanently or temporarily deprive the individual of the car.

It is crucial to understand the terms in this definition for clarity.

Immediate Presence

Immediate presence refers to being within reach of the car. That means, within control, sight, or in close proximity suffice as immediate presence. The notion that carjacking is limited to instances where the driver is behind the wheel only addresses a portion of immediate presence but not in its entirety.

Penal Code 215’s definition further broadens the victim pool to include passengers.

Possession, according to PC 215, does not refer to ownership. Anyone driving the vehicle is considered to be the individual in possession of the car.

Taking the Car Against the Victim’s Will

Consent is the element under review when addressing the victim’s will. Prosecutors must show that fear or force was used. Thus the victim did not willingly give up the car. Additionally, you must have taken the vehicle, then moved it through a distance.

In some situations, the car may only move a short distance and stop for some reason, like running out of gas. It, therefore, follows that the attempt to make away with the car is not successful. However, since you were unsuccessful at getting away with the vehicle, simply taking command of it and moving it through a distance is enough to find you liable for attempted carjacking.

Force or Fear

Coercion robs victims of their will, and force or fear creates a coercive effect. Victims should be reasonably fearful for their personal safety, that of others, and for property around the scene of the carjacking incident. Additionally, the fear should have resulted from your actions.

Reasonable refers to the fear being sufficient to force the victim to comply with your demands or offer no resistance. Only then can you be found liable for the crime.

Force and rear can be used interchangeably in carjacking cases. However, force is implied when the victim was a toddler or an adult asleep in the car. Both victims cannot offer any resistance.

Intent to Deprive

A conviction requires an intention to deprive the victim of the vehicle, whether temporarily or permanently. That means even simple actions of borrowing the car for a while or taking it for a joyride with the intention of returning it are enough to find you culpable. Your intent is what is under focus.

Penalties Under PC 215

Carjacking is a felony. A conviction will have you pay a maximum of $10,000 in fines. Additionally, you will remain on probation and be required to spend one year in jail. This punishment is issued for every victim present at the carjacking scene.

However, certain circumstances enhance your penalties if proven to have occurred. The penalties will be added to the aforementioned, and you will serve them concurrently. The circumstances include:

Inflicting Great Bodily Harm to the Victim

Judges rely on PC 12022.7, California’s great bodily injury enhancement law, to impose enhanced penalties. If you inflicted significant physical harm to the victim in your case, you will receive an additional three to six years in prison.

PC 12022.7 defines great bodily injury as traumatic like paralysis, broken bones, eye bruising, and gunshot wounds. The list of injuries is not exhaustive. The judge and jury determine whether the injury qualifies as significant. Their assessment considers the physical pain the injury caused the victim, the severity of the injury, and whether the injury requires immediate medical attention.

It is worth noting that injuries considered are limited to physical harm. While emotional scars and financial losses cause harm to the victims, they are not factored in sentence enhancements.

Carjacking to Further Gang Activities

If prosecutors prove that you carjacked another to further gang activities, you are looking at 15 years to life as an additional penalty for the crime. According to PC 186.22, you can only have acted at the direction of, associated with, or benefited from a criminal gang if the following are true:

  • You intentionally promoted, furthered, or assisted gang members
  • You knew that the gang members actively participated in a pattern of gang-related crimes.

Use of a Firearm

Using a gun while carjacking another subjects you to the ‘10-20-to-life use of a gun and you are done’ rule under PC 12022.53.  

According to the law, ten years will be added to your sentence for using a firearm. Using, in this case, refers to intentionally menacingly displaying the gun or pistol-whipping your victim. Further, the gun does not need to be operable or loaded. If the firearm was discharged, you could be liable even if another discharged the weapon.

Twenty years will be added to your penalty for discharging a gun during the carjacking incident. In this context, aiming and firing at any individual while committing the crime is discharging a firearm. Non-intentional firing, like banging the window with the gun and it accidentally goes off, is not discharge under PC 12022.53.

If the victim in your case suffered great bodily injury or died, 25 years to life will be added to your sentence. The severe injury or death should be the result of you using your firearm. 

A Strike Under the Three Strike Law

Carjacking is a violent felony. A conviction results in a strike in your record pursuant to California’s Three Strikes law. You must serve at least 85% of your sentence before being eligible for parole. Any subsequent strike in your record following a prior strike, warrants a sentence enhancement.

Second strikers receive twice the penalties prescribed by law. Third strikers, on the other hand, serve no less than 25 years to life.  

Do note, you can be either a second or a third striker with prior strikes, even if the strikes were not for carjacking convictions.

Felony Murder Rule

If you or an accomplice unintentionally or accidentally killed another, California’s murder rule kicks in. According to the law, you are liable for first-degree murder. The victim’s death, however, should have resulted from the carjacking incident. This means:

  • When a victim died following the stress the incident caused, or
  • Died from a stay bullet from a gunshot from the carjacking scene,

In both instances, you will be liable. First-degree felony murders are punishable by:

  • A 25-years-to-life prison sentence,
  • Life in prison without the possibility of parole, or
  • The death penalty. However, Governor Gavin Newsom temporarily suspended the death penalty on March 12, 2019.

Deportation for Legal Immigrants

Carjacking is a deportable crime. A conviction will result in your deportation and denial of re-entry to the US.

Carjacking convictions impose severe penalties if convicted. An experienced Santa Ana criminal attorney should mount a solid defense to have the charges reduced or dismissed. One way of doing so is using legal augments in your defense.

Fighting Carjacking Charges

Experienced Santa Ana criminal attorneys understand prosecutors’ playbooks because they represent various defendants in their criminal cases, carjacking included. Based on that, they know the top defenses to use. They comprise but are not limited to the following:

Case of Misidentification

Carjacking incidents are highly stressful. The adrenaline rush coupled with the speed of executing a carjacker’s demands is traumatic and can interfere with a victim’s recollection of the perpetrator. In this situations, eyewitness identification expert witnesses come in handy. Their testimony will explain how misidentification is possible and, with evidence, how you are a victim of mistaken identity.

Digital cameras mounted on buildings, streets, or other properties are silent witnesses. However, some cameras produce grainy footage that makes it difficult to identify the suspect in the video immediately. Police, therefore, ask for the public to offer information that could identify the suspect, thus increasing the risk of misidentification.

Your attorney will also question the eyewitness and the carjacking victim’s account during cross-examination in a move to ascertain their story.

Your Accuser Gave Consent

Sometimes the possessor of the car may willingly give you the car. For some reason, they call the police and accuse you of carjacking. A further probe into why accusers report the incident as a carjacking reveals jealousy, misunderstanding, or revenge as the motivation behind the accusation.

Carjacking requires the possessor to give up their vehicle unwillingly. Proving that they gave their consent is vital for your defense. 

You Did Not Employ Fear or Force

PC 215 requires the use of fear or force for a conviction. If you did not coerce the victim through force or fear, your case does not meet the threshold set by PC 215. However, other charges may be introduced like joyriding or grand theft auto.

For example, you walk into an auto repair shop and see a vehicle that picks your interest. As you admire it, you realize that the keys are inside, and you decide to take it out for a joyride. The owner, standing outside, realizes you are taking off and calls the police and pressed charges.

Since you did not intimidate or coerce the owner to surrender the vehicle, you cannot be found guilty of carjacking. However, you could face other charges, including joyriding or grand theft auto.

Crimes Related to Carjacking

Prosecutors may introduce additional charges or may prefer pursuing a conviction for other crimes instead of carjacking. Their decision will be founded on your case’s circumstances. They include the following.

Joyriding

According to VC 10851, it is criminal to drive another’s vehicle without their consent. The law requires prosecutors to prove three elements for a conviction. Prosecutors must prove that:

  • You took and drove another's vehicle
  • The car’s owner did not consent to you taking or driving the vehicle
  • You intended to temporarily or permanently deny the owner possession of their vehicle

Joyriding lacks the use of fear or force, critical elements in carjacking cases. If prosecutors prove the above elements but lack force, or fear, they will introduce joyriding charges in plea bargain negotiations. Penalties for these charges are less severe.

Joyriding is a misdemeanor or a felony violation based on the circumstances of your case. When found guilty of a misdemeanor violation, you will pay up to $5,000 in fines and/or spend no more than one year in jail. If convicted for a felony violation, you could spend 16 months, 2, or 3 years in prison.   

If convicted with a felony charge under the following scenarios, you will be fined up to $10,000 and spend 2, 3, or 4 years behind bars.

  • You took and drove a police vehicle, an ambulance, or a fire department car.
  • You have prior felony convictions either for grand theft or joyriding.

Grand Theft Auto

Intentionally taking another’s vehicle worth more than $950 without their consent is grand theft auto, a violation of PC 487(d)(1). Time and value consideration are critical differentiators between grand theft auto and joyriding. In grand theft auto, you must have intended to take and keep the vehicle permanently or for a considerable period. Joyriders take the vehicle for a ride. The vehicle’s value is inconsequential in joyriding cases.

Prosecutors must prove the following elements:

  • You took someone else’s vehicle
  • The vehicle’s value exceeded $950
  • You did not have the owner’s consent to take the car
  • You took the car and intended to deprive the owner of their vehicle, or you took the car for a period long enough to deprive its owner of enjoying it.
  • You moved and kept the car for a while — The length covered or the period the vehicle was in your possession is immaterial. You will be found guilty even if you moved the car through a short distance or retained it for a short period.

Additionally, doing the following will also result in you facing grand theft auto charges.

  • Using false pretenses to convince another to transfer a car’s ownership to you
  • Possessing another’s vehicle through embezzlement
  • Tricking or persuading another to give you possession of the vehicle

Grand theft auto is a wobbler, meaning you can either face misdemeanor or felony charges. However, in practice, prosecutors prefer felony charges. If convicted for a felony offense, you could spend 16 months, 2 or 3 years in jail, and/or pay up to $10,000 in fines. Prior convictions change the prison terms to 2, 3, or 4 years.  

Stealing high-valued vehicles result in penalty enhancements. Stealing vehicles valued at above $65,000 leads to an additional one-year jail term. If the vehicle’s value exceeds $200,000, two more years will be added to your jail sentence.

Kidnapping During Carjacking

Kidnapping you carjacking victims or another after carjacking a vehicle is a violation of PC 209.5. This crime is a form of aggravated kidnapping, punishable as a felony. As with criminal cases, prosecutors need to prove their case for a conviction. Pursuant to PC 209.5, the following elements need to be proven.

  • You carjacked another
  • During the carjacking incident, you used fear or force to hold, take or detain another.
  • You moved your kidnapping victim through a significant distance from the carjacking scene.
  • You caused the kidnapping victim to move to aid in your carjacking, prevent your victim from raising the alarm, or aid in your escape.
  • The kidnapped victim did not consent to the movement
  • Your kidnapping victim was not a carjacker

It is worth noting, the movement discussed above should have increased the risk of bodily injury to the victim beyond the risk present in the carjacking incident.

Kidnapping during carjacking is a violent felony and a strikeable offense. The offense is punishable with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Auto Burglary

Auto burglary encompasses the following:

  • Entering a locked car or its trunk intending to steal the car,
  • Stealing property in the car, or
  • Intending to commit a felony while inside the vehicle is auto burglary.

Entering a locked vehicle and intending to commit a felony or theft while in the car are crucial elements that determine your guilt pursuant to PC 459.

Entering a Locked Car

The vehicle’s security must be tampered with to allow your entry or you to be found guilty of a PC 459 violation. Below are some ways you can break into a locked car:

  • Smashing a window to gain entry
  • Using a screwdriver or any other device to pop open a car's trunk
  • Gaining access into a vehicle through an open window without the owner’s authority

Entry into a car is equally important. You enter a vehicle if any part of or your entire body is inside the vehicle. Additionally, an object within your control making its way into the car fits the definition of entry as per PC 459.

Intending to Commit Theft or a Felony

You must have intended to steal property in the car or to commit a felony that includes the following:

  • Kidnapping a child or an adult who were in the car
  • Grand theft auto — Stealing the vehicle you broke into
  • Grand theft — Stealing property whose value does not exceed $950 inside the vehicle

While PC 459 states that you must have intended to commit a felony, intending to commit petty theft (stealing property valued at $950 or less), a misdemeanor will still find you guilty of auto burglary. 

Two issues stand out from PC 459’s definition of auto burglary. First, if you break into the car without intending to commit a felony or theft, you have not violated PC 459. Secondly, you are liable under this statute even if you did not commit said felony or theft. The intent is what matters.

Auto burglary is considered second-degree burglary, a lesser burglary offense. Therefore, a conviction results in either a misdemeanor or felony penalty. A misdemeanor conviction will see you spend up to one year in jail. A felony conviction, on the other hand, is penalized by a 16 month, 2, or 3-year prison sentence.  

Auto burglary has one exception. Breaking into an inhabited trailer coach with the intent to commit theft or a felony is first-degree burglary. The penalties are heftier than for second-degree burglary convictions. You will be sentenced to prison for 2, 4, or 6 years.

Contact a Santa Ana Criminal Attorney Near Me

Prison time and the fines are penalties you can do without if you do not have a case to answer for. In some instances, the evidence may be insufficient to support a carjacking charge but find you guilty of a lesser crime. Thus, you can have your sentences and fines reduced. However, the possibility of enjoying either outcome increases with legal representation. Based on their assessment, your Santa Ana criminal attorney will advise you on what to expect and mount a solid defense to ensure the best legal outcome. The California Criminal Lawyer Group team has the experience you require to fight carjacking charges. Give us a call today at 714-844-4151.