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F 18.75 n1 Possession Of Burglary Tools: Items Used To Cut Or Break Glass (PC 466).
The items specifically listed as burglar’s tools in PC 466 are keys or key replacements, or tools that can be used to pry open doors, pick locks, or pull locks up or out. None of the devices enumerated are those whose function would be to break or cut glass — e.g., rocks, bricks, hammers or glass cutters. Therefore, a piece of a ceramic spark plug doesn’t qualify as a burglar tool. (People v. Gordon (2001) 90 CA4th 1409 [109 CR2d 725].) “[T]he test is not whether a device can accomplish the same general purpose as the tools enumerated in section 466; rather, the device itself must be similar to those specifically mentioned.” (Gordon, 90 CA4th at 1413.)
Effective 1/1/2003, PC 466 was amended was amended to include ceramic or porcelain spark plug chips or pieces to the list of prohibited burglary tools.
Definition Of Ceramic Or Porcelain: Contained within the Senate Committee Analysis of AB 2015 was the following definition of ceramic or porcelain: “Webster’s New-World Dictionary (2nd College Ed. 1980) defines ceramic as baked potter’s clay. It defines porcelain as a hard, white nonporous variety of ceramic ware, made of kaolin, feldspar and quartz or flint.”