Matthew J. Ruff Theft Law Blog on Lawyers.com

California law makes it a crime to take an item of any value with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of said property.  The applicable law governing theft, both shoplifting and petty theft.  The good news is a petty theft or shoplifting lawyer can be a saving grace when someone in arrested for a crime of theft in California.  There is no difference between the offense of shoplifting or petty theft.  The term "petty theft" is how the penal code refers to the crime, shoplifting is the moniker or slang term the general public uses to refer to the offense.

Petty theft is the theft of any property with a value of less than four hundred dollars.  Grand theft is the crime of theft of over $400 of property.  The Penal Code sections are 484 and 487 respectively.  Petty theft is a misdemeanor, grand theft is a felony which carries aterm of state prison.  In many instances, shoplifting is when the value is less than $50 and can be made an infraction under PC 490.1.  An experienced criminal defense lawyer should be retained in any case to mitigate or dismiss the charge when appropriate.