What is the legal test for a motor vehicle theft?

When the property involved is a vehicle, California statutory law imposes criminal liability for conduct that does not meet the common law definition of theft. Specifically, Vehicle Code section 10851 provides a person who "drives or takes" a vehicle without the owner's consent, "and with intent either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the vehicle," is guilty of a public offense. (Veh. Code, 10851, subd. (a), italics added.) A person can violate this statute " 'either by taking a vehicle with the intent to steal it or by driving it with the intent only to temporarily deprive its owner of possession (i.e., joyriding).' "⁵ (People v. Garza (2005) 35 Cal.4th 866, 876; see id. at

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