People v. Bowen

137 Cal. App. 3d 1020, 187 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 2197
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 9, 1982
DocketDocket Nos. 12316, 14575
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 137 Cal. App. 3d 1020 (People v. Bowen) 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
People v. Bowen, 137 Cal. App. 3d 1020, 187 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 2197 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Opinion

MORRIS, P. J.

Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 187) and rape (Pen. Code, § 261, former subds. 2 and 3), and the alleged special circumstance that the murder occurred during the commission of the rape (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(iii)) was found true. He was subsequently found to have been sane at the time of the commission of the murder and rape. Defendant, a minor at the time the offenses were committed, was sentenced for the murder to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. His sentence of six years for the rape was stayed. On appeal defendant claims inadequacy of trial counsel, 1 insufficiency of the evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, erroneous denial of a suppression motion, unduly prejudicial photographic evidence, improper jury instructions, and sentencing error. All but defendant’s sentencing contention are meritless. Because he may not be sentenced to life without possibility of parole, we reverse as to penalty only.

The sentencing issue is the sole reason that this opinion qualifies for publication. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 976(b).) We therefore deal with it first. The facts of this case and the resolution of the remaining contentions follow.

Sentencing

Defendant raises two issues concerning his sentencing. First, it is contended that defendant may not be sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole because he was a minor at the time of the murder. Second, he asserts error in the fact that he was not sent to the California Youth Authority for evaluation prior to his sentencing.

Defendant relies on People v. Davis (1981) 29 Cal.3d 814 [176 Cal. Rptr. 521, 633 P.2d 186], to support his argument that he may not be sen *1025 tenced to life without possibility of parole. Davis held that, under the 1977 legislatively enacted murder penalty statutes (former Pen. Code, § 190 et seq., Stats. 1977, ch. 316, p. 1256), the state is not allowed to imprison a minor for life without possibility of parole. (29 Cal.3d at pp. 827-832.) The 1977 legislation was replaced by the current law, an initiative measure adopted at the November 1978 General Election. The People now contend that the logic of Davis is inapplicable to the law under which defendant was sentenced. We disagree. For the purposes of the issue before us, the 1977 and 1978 laws are indistinguishable and we consider ourselves bound by Davis.

Davis noted that the 1977 law allowed the imposition of the death penalty in certain first degree murder cases, but that since 1921 minors have been expressly exempted from the death penalty. (See former and present Pen. Code, § 190.5) The same remains true under the 1978 law. It was then stated that “[a]lthough the [1977] statute does not also explicitly exempt minors from the sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole, neither the language nor the history of the statute supports an interpretation that would authorize imposing that harsh penalty on persons under 18.” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 827.)

The Davis court listed four reasons for its holding. The primary reason was that “the history of the [1977] statute clearly reveals a specific and limited legislative intent, unrelated to any desire to impose harsher sanctions on minors.” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 829.) While the intents behind the 1977 and 1978 laws are different from each other, they are the same in that there is an absence in both of any intent to specifically affect the penalties for minors. The impetus for the 1977 legislation was the Supreme Court’s decision in Rockwell v. Superior Court (1976) 18 Cal. 3d 420 [134 Cal.Rptr. 650, 556 P.2d 1101] which struck down the then-existing death penalty statute. However, Davis found it significant that “the Legislature retained unchanged the language exempting minors from the death penalty (former § 190.5), and made not the slightest suggestion that it intended the new penalty to be imposed on minors as an alternative to an ordinary life sentence. Clearly, the Legislature enacted this statute not as a means of increasing the penalty applicable to minors convicted of murder, but solely as a method to ameliorate the unconstitutionally harsh effect of the former death penalty procedures applicable exclusively to adults.” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 830.)

The intent behind the 1978 law was to correct what its proponents perceived as weaknesses in the 1977 death penalty law. The argument in favor of the initiative stated that “the anti-death penalty politicians used their influence to make sure that the death penalty law passed by the State Legislature [in 1977] was as weak and ineffective as possible.” (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 7, 1978) p. 34.) The 1978 law expanded the list of special circumstances which re *1026 quire either the death penalty or life without possibility of parole, increased the sentence for second degree murder, and changed the minimum sentence for first degree murder. It made no change concerning the application of the murder penalty laws to minors. And, significantly, the initiative retained the exemption of minors from the death penalty. The absence of intent respecting minors in the 1977 law which was found significant by the Davis court is no different in the 1978 law. 2

The second reason for its holding given by the Davis court was that “a contrary interpretation would lead to the anomalous requirement of a superfluous penalty hearing whenever a verdict of guilt with special circumstances is returned against a minor.” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 831.) Former section 190.4, subdivision (a) mandated the hearing in order to choose between death and life without possibility of parole, the only two possible penalties for someone convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances (former § 190.2). However, such a hearing for a minor defendant would have been unnecessary since the minor was exempt from ’the death penalty (former § 190.5). Davis stated, “Hence, the omission of any exception to the mandatory language of former section 190.4, subdivision (a), further demonstrates the absence of legislative intent to provide life without parole as a sentencing alternative except in those cases to which the death penalty might also apply. ” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 831.) The same superfluous penalty hearing would result under the current law, since the 1978 version of section 190.4, subdivision (a) is identical to its 1977 predecessor.

Third, the Davis court found, “when the statute is read as a whole, it offers no basis for charging minors with special circumstances.” (29 Cal.3d, at p. 831.) The court’s discussion is directly applicable to this case since the 1977 statutes analyzed were left substantively unchanged by the 1978 initiative: “former section 190.1 authorizes disposition of a charge of special circumstances only in possible death penalty cases.[ 3

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Bluebook (online)
137 Cal. App. 3d 1020, 187 Cal. Rptr. 614, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 2197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bowen-calctapp-1982.