California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, B232508 (Cal. App. 2012):
Published cases involving section 537 are few, and defendant has not cited any in which a violation of section 537 resulted in a burglary prosecution. Instead, to demonstrate his contention that section 537 is a special statute that covers the same subject as section 459, defendant relies on the following cases in which a special theft statute has been compared with a general theft statute: People v. Ruster (1976) 16 Cal.3d 690, 694 (false insurance claim and forgery); People v. Fiene, supra, 226 Cal.App.2d at
Page 7
page 308 (petty theft and 537); People v. Silk (1955) 138 Cal.App.2d Supp. 899, 901-902 (petty theft and welfare fraud). Each of the cited cases compared theft with theft; none holds or suggests that theft and burglary cover the same subject. Here, on the other hand, section 537 prohibits a form of theft, whereas section 459 prohibits an entry with a specific state of mind. The cases do not illustrate defendant's point.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.