What Should I Do About an Active California Warrant for Receiving Stolen Property?

Attorney Answer

Continuing to avoid this warrant is making your situation worse every day, and the most protective thing you can do right now is get a criminal defense attorney involved before you do anything else. You're facing a felony charge under Penal Code Section 496d, which covers buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or similar property and can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances and your record. On top of that, prosecutors have filed a Three Strikes allegation under Penal Code Section 1170.12, based on one prior felony conviction. Here is what that actually adds: under Penal Code Section 1170.12(c)(1), a single prior strike that is pled and proved doubles the term for the current offense. A felony under Section 496d carries 16 months, two years, or three years, so doubling puts the ceiling at six years — not life. The indeterminate 25-years-to-life term under Section 1170.12(c)(2)(A) requires two or more prior strikes, and even then, since Proposition 36, Section 1170.12(c)(2)(C) normally sends a defendant whose current offense is neither serious nor violent — receiving a stolen vehicle is neither — back to second-strike sentencing. That is still a serious sentence, but on what you have described this is not a life case.

An outstanding warrant doesn't expire just because time passes. It stays active until you're arrested, you turn yourself in, or the case is otherwise resolved. Meanwhile, every day you remain out adds real risk. If the warrant came from missing a court date after you were released, that can bring a separate failure-to-appear charge under Penal Code Section 1320.5. A judge may also be far less willing to grant bail after a year of evasion, and the delay can work against you later at sentencing or in plea negotiations.

What tends to work best from here:

1. Call a California criminal defense attorney today, before you turn yourself in. Many offer free consultations, and having counsel arrange things first is very different from being picked up unexpectedly. 2. Let the attorney confirm the warrant and bail details with the court before you appear, so there are no surprises. 3. Ask specifically about the Three Strikes allegation. Whether a prior conviction actually qualifies as a strike is often something a defense attorney can challenge, and it matters enormously to your exposure. 4. Arrange a planned self-surrender through your attorney rather than waiting to be found, since this is generally viewed more favorably than a forced arrest.

This is general legal information, not legal advice for your specific case. A California criminal defense attorney can review the actual warrant, the underlying charge, and your record, and advise you on the safest way to resolve this.