California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Tipton, C079440 (Cal. App. 2018):
Although the various forms of theft are consolidated into a single offense ( 484), the essential elements of each form remain distinct. (People v. Beaver (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th 107, 121; cf. People v. Vidana (2016) 1 Cal.5th 632, 647-648 [ 484 and 503 are different statements of same offense of theft, precluding conviction of both].) Theft by embezzlement "is the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been intrusted." ( 503.) Its elements include an owner entrusting property to a defendant on the basis of the owner's trust in the defendant, who then fraudulently converts the property to the defendant's own use with the intent to deprive the owner of its use. (Beaver, supra, 186 Cal.App.4th at p. 121.) This requires the existence of a bond of trust and confidence between the two parties akin to a fiduciary relationship. (Ibid.) Although a mistaken conviction under one theory of theft may be sustained under another theory that has support in the evidence, the jury must be instructed on all of the elements of the other theory in order to affirm on that basis. (Id. at pp. 123-125.)
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