CALCRIM No. 1750. Receiving Stolen Property (Pen. Code, § 496(a))
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
Download PDF
B. RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY AND RELATED
INSTRUCTIONS
1750.Receiving Stolen Property (Pen. Code, § 496(a))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with receiving stolen
property [in violation of Penal Code section 496(a)].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
1. The defendant (bought/received/sold/aided in selling/concealed or
withheld from its owner/aided in concealing or withholding from
its owner) property that had been (stolen/obtained by extortion);
[AND]
2. When the defendant (bought/received/sold/aided in
selling/concealed or withheld/aided in concealing or withholding)
the property, (he/she) knew that the property had been (stolen/
obtained by extortion)(;/.)
<Give element 3 when instructing on knowledge of presence of property;
see Bench Notes.>
[AND
3. The defendant actually knew of the presence of the property.]
[Property is stolen if it was obtained by any type of theft, or by burglary
or robbery. [Theft includes obtaining property by larceny, embezzlement,
false pretense, or trick.]]
[Property is obtained by extortion if: (1) the property was obtained from
another person with that person’s consent, and (2) that person’s consent
was obtained through the use of force or fear.]
[To receive property means to take possession and control of it. Mere
presence near or access to the property is not enough.] [Two or more
people can possess the property at the same time.] [A person does not
have to actually hold or touch something to possess it. It is enough if the
person has [control over it] [or] [the right to control it], either personally
or through another person.]
[If you find the defendant guilty of receiving stolen property, you must
then decide whether the value of the property received was more than
$950. If you have a reasonable doubt whether the property received has
a value of more than $950, you must find this allegation has not been
proved.]
1145
New January 2006; Revised August 2006, June 2007, October 2010, August 2014,
August 2015
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
If the defendant is also charged with a theft crime, the court has a sua sponte duty
to instruct that the defendant may not be convicted of receiving stolen property if he
is convicted of the theft of the same property. (CALCRIM No. 3516, Multiple
Counts: Alternative Charges for One Event - Dual Conviction Prohibited; see Pen.
Code, § 496(a); People v. Ceja (2010) 49 Cal.4th 1, 6-7 [108 Cal.Rptr.3d 568, 229
P.3d 995]; People v. Garza (2005) 35 Cal.4th 866, 881-882 [28 Cal.Rptr.3d 335,
111 P.3d 310] [upholding dual convictions for receiving stolen property and a
violation of Vehicle Code section 10851(a) as a nontheft conviction for post-theft
driving].)
If there are factual issues regarding whether the received stolen property was taken
with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession, the court has a sua
sponte duty to instruct on the complete definitions of theft. People v. MacArthur
(2006) 142 Cal.App.4th 275 [47 Cal.Rptr.3d 736]. For instructions defining extortion
and the different forms of theft, see Series 1800, Theft and Extortion. On request,
the court should give the complete instruction on the elements of theft or extortion.
If substantial evidence exists, a specific instruction must be given on request that the
defendant must have knowledge of the presence of the stolen goods. (People v.
Speaks (1981) 120 Cal.App.3d 36, 39-40 [174 Cal.Rptr. 65]; see People v. Gory
(1946) 28 Cal.2d 450, 455-456, 458-459 [170 P.2d 433] [possession of narcotics
requires knowledge of presence]; see also discussion of voluntary intoxication in
Related Issues, below.) Give bracketed element 3 when supported by the evidence.
When the People allege the defendant has a prior conviction for an offense listed in
Penal Code section 667(e)(2)(C)(iv) or for an offense requiring registration pursuant
to subdivision (c) of section 290, give CALCRIM No. 3100, Prior Conviction:
Nonbifurcated Trial or CALCRIM No. 3101, Prior Conviction: Bifurcated Trial.
Related Instructions
For an instruction about when guilt may be inferred from possession of recently
stolen property, see CALCRIM No. 376, Possession of Recently Stolen Property as
Evidence of a Crime.
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 496(a); People v. Land (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 220, 223
[35 Cal.Rptr.2d 544].
• Extortion Defined. Pen. Code, § 518.
• Theft Defined. Pen. Code, §§ 484, 490a.
CALCRIM No. 1750 BURGLARY AND RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY
1146
• Concealment. Williams v. Superior Court (1978) 81 Cal.App.3d 330, 343-344
[146 Cal.Rptr. 311].
• General Intent Required. People v. Wielograf (1980) 101 Cal.App.3d 488, 494
[161 Cal.Rptr. 680] [general intent crime]; but see People v. Reyes (1997) 52
Cal.App.4th 975, 985 [61 Cal.Rptr.2d 39] [knowledge element is a “specific
mental state”].
• Knowledge Element. People v. Reyes (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 975, 985 [61
Cal.Rptr.2d 39].
• Possession and Control. People v. Land (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 220, 223-224 [35
Cal.Rptr.2d 544]; People v. Zyduck (1969) 270 Cal.App.2d 334, 336 [75
Cal.Rptr. 616]; see People v. Gatlin (1989) 209 Cal.App.3d 31, 44-45 [257
Cal.Rptr. 171] [constructive possession means knowingly having the right of
control over the property directly or through another]; People v. Scott (1951) 108
Cal.App.2d 231, 234 [238 P.2d 659] [two or more persons may jointly possess
property].
• Stolen Property. People v. Kunkin (1973) 9 Cal.3d 245, 250 [107 Cal.Rptr. 184,
507 P.2d 1392] [theft]; see, e.g., People v. Candiotto (1960) 183 Cal.App.2d 348,
349 [6 Cal.Rptr. 876] [burglary]; People v. Siegfried (1967) 249 Cal.App.2d 489,
493 [57 Cal.Rptr. 423] [robbery].
LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES
• Attempted Receiving Stolen Property. Pen. Code, §§ 664, 496(d); People v.
Rojas (1961) 55 Cal.2d 252, 258 [10 Cal.Rptr. 465, 358 P.2d 921] [stolen goods
recovered by police were no longer “stolen”]; People v. Moss (1976) 55
Cal.App.3d 179, 183 [127 Cal.Rptr. 454] [antecedent theft not a necessary
element].
Theft by appropriation of lost property (Pen. Code, § 485) is not a necessarily
included offense of receiving stolen property. (In re Greg F. (1984) 159 Cal.App.3d
466, 469 [205 Cal.Rptr. 614].)
RELATED ISSUES
Defense of Voluntary Intoxication or Mental Disease
Though receiving stolen property is a general intent crime, one element of the
offense is knowledge that the property was stolen, a specific mental state. With
regard to the element of knowledge, receiving stolen property is a “specific intent
crime” as that term is used in Penal Code sections 29.4(b) and 28(a). (People v.
Reyes (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 975, 985 [61 Cal.Rptr.2d 39].) Therefore, the
defendant should have the opportunity to introduce evidence and request instructions
regarding the lack of requisite knowledge. (Id. at p. 986; see People v. Mendoza
(1998) 18 Cal.4th 1114, 1131 [77 Cal.Rptr.2d 428, 959 P.2d 735]; but see People v.
Atkins (2001) 25 Cal.4th 76, 96-97 [104 Cal.Rptr.2d 738, 18 P.3d 660] (conc. opn.
of Brown, J.) [criticizing Mendoza and Reyes as wrongly transmuting a knowledge
BURGLARY AND RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY CALCRIM No. 1750
1147
requirement into a specific intent].) See CALCRIM No. 3426, Voluntary
Intoxication.
Dual Convictions Prohibited
A person may not be convicted of stealing and of receiving the same property.
(People v. Jaramillo (1976) 16 Cal.3d 752, 757 [129 Cal.Rptr. 306, 548 P.2d 706]
superseded by statute on related grounds, as stated in People v. Hinks (1997) 58
Cal.App.4th 1157 [68 Cal.Rptr.2d 440]; see People v. Tatum (1962) 209 Cal.App.2d
179, 183 [25 Cal.Rptr. 832].) See CALCRIM No. 3516, Multiple Counts:
Alternative Charges For One Event - Dual Conviction Prohibited.
Receiving Multiple Items on Single Occasion
A defendant who receives more than one item of stolen property on a single
occasion commits one offense of receiving stolen property. (See People v. Lyons
(1958) 50 Cal.2d 245, 275 [324 P.2d 556].)
Specific Vendors
The Penal Code establishes separate crimes for specific persons buying or receiving
particular types of stolen property, including the following:
1. Swap meet vendors and persons dealing in or collecting merchandise or
personal property. (Pen. Code, § 496(b).)
2. Dealers or collectors of junk metals or secondhand materials who buy or
receive particular metals used in providing telephone, transportation, or public
utility services. (Pen. Code, § 496a(a).)
3. Dealers or collectors of secondhand books or other literary materials. (Pen.
Code, § 496b [misdemeanors].)
4. Persons buying or receiving motor vehicles, trailers, special construction
equipment, or vessels. (Pen. Code, § 496d(a).)
5. Persons buying, selling, receiving, etc., specific personal property, including
integrated computer chips or panels, electronic equipment, or appliances, from
which serial numbers or identifying marks have been removed or altered. (Pen.
Code, § 537e(a).)
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Property, § 72.
6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 143, Crimes
Against Property, §§ 143.01[2][c], 143.03, 143.10[2][c], [d] (Matthew Bender).
CALCRIM No. 1750 BURGLARY AND RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY
1148
© Judicial Council of California.
