## Facts

- Anthony Leroy Wallace’s wife, Arlissa Pointer Wallace, found him using crack cocaine and told him to leave the Fresno home she had owned before the marriage and refinanced after marriage.
- Wallace did not leave and instead tore up the house; Pointer attempted to summon help while fearing escalation.
- Pointer reported that everything broken in the home belonged to her except Wallace’s stereo.
- After Wallace left, he returned hours later and again broke items; he challenged officers and was subdued with a Taser and arrested.
- An expert estimated damage exceeding $9,000 to the structure and over $6,000 to furniture and furnishings.
- A jury convicted Wallace of felony vandalism (Penal Code § 594(b)(1)), misdemeanor being under the influence, and misdemeanor resisting an officer; the jury also found two prior serious/prison priors true.
- The trial court imposed a Three Strikes term of 25 years to life for vandalism plus consecutive one-year prison-prior enhancements.

## Issues

1. Whether a spouse can be convicted of vandalism under Penal Code § 594 for intentionally damaging property in the marital home when the spouse has a community property or possessory interest in the home or items damaged.
2. Whether the statutory phrase “real or personal property not his or her own” requires the damaged property to be wholly owned by someone other than the defendant.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment.
- The court held a spouse may be convicted of vandalism for maliciously damaging community property or the other spouse’s separate property located in the marital home.
- The court construed “property not his or her own” to include any property the defendant does not exclusively own; partial ownership does not bar liability.
- The court rejected the claim that co-occupancy or possessory rights immunize a spouse from vandalism liability.
- The evidence was sufficient to show the damaged property was at least partly owned by Pointer, satisfying § 594.

## Legal Principles

- For Penal Code § 594(a), “property not his or her own” includes property in which another person holds any ownership interest; exclusive ownership by the defendant is required to avoid the element.
- Community property is jointly owned; malicious damage by one spouse necessarily injures the other spouse’s ownership interest and can satisfy § 594.
- A spouse’s possessory interest in a marital residence does not confer ownership of all real and personal property within the premises and does not defeat vandalism liability.
- The location of separate property in the marital home does not convert it into the defendant’s “own” property for § 594 purposes.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Wallace’s felony vandalism conviction and sentence, holding that Penal Code § 594 applies when a spouse maliciously damages property in the marital home that is jointly owned or belongs, in whole or part, to the other spouse; the statute does not require the damaged property to be wholly owned by someone else.


People v. Wallace, 123 Cal. App. 4th 144, 19 Cal. Rptr. 3d 790 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004)