Looting Laws In California - Penal Code Section 463
So, obviously, looting or acts such as burglary, grand theft, and even possibly petty theft, depending on the circumstances – and states of emergency would be rioting like what happened in Los Angeles in the early 1990s.
Other states of emergency could be a flood or an earthquake. In other words, an emergency that basically puts stores at risk because the owners aren't there to defend their stores, and the police are not available because they're dealing with an emergency. Then somebody goes in and takes advantage of that. So, they will prosecute these crimes. They're wobblers.
Depending on the circumstances of the looting in Los Angeles, they can sometimes be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony.
But you can bet that the prosecutors in Los Angeles will prosecute these looting cases because they feel that individuals are taking advantage of a weak situation – taking advantage of the police, taking advantage of the community, and taking advantage of those business owners who work hard for their money.
Develop a Defense Strategy
So, if you are charged with looting, you'll want to have an attorney who knows how to handle these cases and who can convey your version of events.
There are a lot of different ways to prove a looting case in Los Angeles. Obviously, if the police are somebody in the act of running out of a business with a TV in their hands, that would be a pretty easy way to prosecute the person.
They could just arrest him on the spot, give the case to the prosecutors and that person would be charged with looting in Los Angeles, a violation of Penal Code Section 463, potentially they could be looking at prison time depending on their record and the circumstances of the particular case.
Other ways I've seen them get people for looting are through video. If they catch you on video stealing things, that's just as good as an eyewitness. If somebody can identify you as the person taking the merchandise or if it's obviously you by looking at the video, that would be good evidence to prove a looting case.
Also, witnesses could be available, and they could say, yeah, we saw the person break in. We saw him go in. We saw him take things. That would be good enough to prove a looting case in LA.
So, the bottom line is these cases are taken seriously, and you could be looking at up to three years in prison. So, you want to make sure that you get an attorney who can help you, who's been down this road before, who can get your version of events across. If you have a defense to the looting – because nobody can identify you – obviously, you want to get an attorney who can assert that defense.
If you're charged with looting, you can bet they're going to be looking at punishing you severely, so make sure you get an attorney who knows how to handle these cases and knows how to get you the result you deserve based on your life circumstances – your job, your career, your family. Maybe it was an emergency for you as well.
