P. v. White

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 14, 2015
DocketD060969M
StatusPublished

This text of P. v. White (P. v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
P. v. White, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 7/14/15 (unmodified opn. attached after Appendix A)

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

OPINION ON REMAND

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D060969

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. SCD228290) v. ORDER MODIFYING BILLY CHARLES WHITE, DISSENTING OPINION

Defendant and Appellant. [NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT OR MAJORITY OPINION]

THE COURT:

It is ordered that the dissenting opinion filed herein on June 18, 2015, be modified

as follows:

1. For the convenience of readers, attached as Appendix A is a complete version

of the dissent, as modified by this order.

2. On page 1, the following changes are made:

 The following sentence is added to the beginning of the first full

paragraph:

I dissent to part B of the majority's opinion.  Footnote 1, at the bottom of page 1, is split into two footnotes, which

will require renumbering of all subsequent footnotes, and read as follows: 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 For clarity, I will use the same nomenclature as the majority (maj. opn. ante, at p. 16, fn. 3) in referring to the versions of section 261 of the Penal Code at issue in this case. "Former section 261" will refer to the version interpreted by the high court in 1941 in Craig, and "applicable section 261" will refer to the version under which defendant was charged.

 The numerical reference to footnote 1 at line 6, paragraph 1, is

moved to line 5 between the words "Code," and "§" in the first parenthetical

statutory reference.

 The numerical reference to footnote 2, paragraph 1, is inserted at line

6 at the end of the sentence beginning with the words "an unconscious

person."

 A paragraph break is inserted following the second full sentence of

the first paragraph, beginning with the words "The majority concludes

subdivisions," and a sentence is added to that paragraph. The full

paragraph now reads as follows:

The majority concludes subdivisions (a)(3) and (a)(4)(A) of applicable section 261 "do not define separate crimes and do not contain separate punishments," but rather "are simply separate ways in which the crime of rape can be committed under section 261." (Maj. opn. ante, at p. 23.) As a result, the majority strikes defendant's conviction on count 2, meaning defendant White now stands convicted of only one count of rape.

 The second full paragraph, beginning with "I dissent to part B" is

replaced in its entirety with the following:

2 In doing so, the majority does not explain for the benefit of sentencing courts or for our high court (in connection with any forthcoming petition for review) why it struck count 2, as opposed to count 1, or why it did not merely consolidate defendant's two rape counts, as was done in Craig.3 In any event, I note if our high court or another court in a habeas corpus proceeding should overturn defendant's conviction on count 1, White then would stand convicted of no counts of rape, despite the majority's conclusion in this case that substantial evidence supports both convictions.

 The third full paragraph, beginning with "With respect" is replaced

in its entirety with the following:

Based on Gonzalez and its discussion of Blockburger v. United States (1932) 284 U.S. 299, 304 (Blockburger), and based on Craig itself, I conclude that subdivisions (a)(3) and (a)(4)(A) of applicable section 261 require proof of different elements (i.e., the "elements test"), and, therefore, each subdivision constitutes an individual rape offense for which defendant may be separately charged and convicted. With respect to the actual holding of Craig (i.e., that rape and statutory rape constitute a "single outrage" to be sentenced as one crime), I conclude it was based on then- existing views of rape, which have since been abandoned, and that, in any event, the narrow holding of Craig was superseded when, among other actions, the Legislature adopted section 261.5. That statute set forth the separate crime of statutory rape, with a separate sentencing scheme. (Stats. 1970, ch. 1301, § 2.)

3. On page 5, the following changes occur:

 The first full paragraph beginning with "The majority, in my view"

is deleted.

 The following four paragraphs are added:

In urging a conclusion that violation of multiple subdivisions within subdivision (a) of section 261 are but one crime, my colleagues erroneously conclude the circumstances listed in those subdivisions have no significance except to describe conditions under which a crime of rape occurs. This premise merits close examination and rejection. We need not resort here to debate as to what the holding of Craig is, and is not. Nor do we need to debate whether, as my colleagues believe, rape always constitutes a single outrage against the victim whatever the circumstances

3 of the crime. We need only look at what our Legislature has done in enacting the version of section 261 applicable when defendant was charged, a statute I note is vastly different and expanded than the one interpreted by our high court in Craig. Examination of applicable section 261 leads me to conclude my colleagues establish an unwarranted and unwise reduction of the Legislature's intent in section 261.

It is true that subdivisions 1-7 within subdivision (a) of section 261 address the outrage of the same physical violation. However, it is clear to me that each such subdivision carves out an individual outrage or illegality in addition to the physical act. For example, in subdivision (3) the additional outrage is the advantage taken of the victim due to intoxication. In subdivision (4)(A), it is the advantage taken of an unconscious victim. The same may be said the other subdivisions. In subdivision (4)(C) the additional outrage is the perpetrator's use of fraud in fact. In (4)(D) it is the use of fraud to induce the victim to believe sexual penetration is necessary for a professional purpose when it is not. (See § 729.) In subdivision (6) it is the threat of retaliation against the victim or another. (See § 422.) In subdivision (7) the additional outrage is the use of a threat of incarceration, arrest or deportation. (See Bus. & Prof. Code, § 494.6, subd. (b).)

Thus, my colleagues' necessary conclusion only one outrage has occurred regardless of the circumstances described in subdivisions 1-7 of subdivision (a) ignores the clear legislative intent that each distinct circumstance enumerated in the statute is an outrage, not just against the victim, but as expressed by individual law enforcement goals and public policy considerations, society in general. As such, each circumstance is an additional element that must be plead and proved.

In disregarding the elements test, the majority relies exclusively on a "structure test" in concluding that applicable section 261 more closely resembles former section 261 than former section 288a. Relying on the structure of applicable section 261, the majority notes that a reader can only understand subdivision (3) or (4) of that statute by reading subdivision (a) of that statute, which, according to the majority, makes former section 288a "markedly different" than applicable section 261. (Maj. opn. ante, at p. 17.)

4. On page 6, the second full paragraph beginning with "Unlike the majority," and

the third full paragraph beginning with "As I discuss" are combined into one paragraph,

and now reads as follows:

4 Unlike the majority, I do not find Smith helpful.

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Related

Blockburger v. United States
284 U.S. 299 (Supreme Court, 1931)
Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
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People v. Cummings
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People v. Pearson
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People v. Brown
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People v. Stanley
897 P.2d 481 (California Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Smith
224 P.2d 719 (California Supreme Court, 1950)
People v. Mummert
135 P.2d 665 (California Court of Appeal, 1943)
People v. Kynette
104 P.2d 794 (California Supreme Court, 1940)
People v. Carbajal
899 P.2d 67 (California Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Craig
110 P.2d 403 (California Supreme Court, 1941)
People v. Marshall
790 P.2d 676 (California Supreme Court, 1990)
People v. Majors
956 P.2d 1137 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Bolin
956 P.2d 374 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Anderson
801 P.2d 1107 (California Supreme Court, 1990)

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P. v. White, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/p-v-white-calctapp-2015.