The Second Appellate District recently made new law by affirming a Pomona judge’s decision that felony, rather than misdemeanor, vandalism charges were proper when the total damages are considered. In this case, there were damages suffered by defendant’s mom and an apartment owner, which when totaled, exceeded the misdemeanor vandalism limits of $400.

Mike Camacho, the Pomona judge who ruled the prosecutor was correct, said felony vandalism charges (Penal Code § 594(a)), where proper when the $382 in repair costs to a car and $265 in damages to a window were added, making the total in excess of $400, the upper limit for misdemeanor vandalism (Penal Code § 594 (b)).