People v. Casper

130 Cal. Rptr. 2d 368, 105 Cal. App. 4th 1373
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 23, 2003
DocketD038550
StatusPublished

This text of 130 Cal. Rptr. 2d 368 (People v. Casper) 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. Casper, 130 Cal. Rptr. 2d 368, 105 Cal. App. 4th 1373 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

130 Cal.Rptr.2d 368 (2003)
105 Cal.App.4th 1373

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
David James CASPER, Defendant and Appellant.

No. D038550.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One.

February 3, 2003.
As Modified on Denial of Rehearing March 3, 2003.
Review Granted April 23, 2003.

*369 Michael B. McPartland, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, Petaluma, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Anthony DaSilva and Arlene Aquintey Sevidal, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

McDONALD, J.

David James Casper entered a guilty plea to the following offenses: one count of carjacking (Pen.Code, § 215 subd. (a));[1] one count of residential burglary (§§ 459/460); one count of taking or knowingly driving a stolen vehicle (Veh.Code, § 10851, subd. (a)); 25 counts of robbery (§ 211), with personal use of a firearm in all but one of the robberies (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)); four counts of attempted robbery (§§ 664/211) with personal use of a firearm; two counts of false imprisonment (§§ 236/237) with personal use of a firearm (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1)); and assault with a semi-automatic firearm (§ 245, subd. (b)) with personal use of a firearm (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1)). Casper admitted a prior serious or violent felony conviction (hereafter *370 strike) (§§ 667, subds.(b)-(i), 1170.12, 668) alleged in each count, a prior serious felony conviction (§§ 667, subd. (a)(1), 668), and serving two prior prison terms (§§ 667.5 subd. (b), 668). The court dismissed the strike allegation on all but the carjacking conviction and sentenced him to 104 years 8 months in prison: double the three-year lower term for carjacking with a prior strike enhanced 10 years for personally using a firearm, with consecutive terms of one year four months for residential burglary, four years four months each on 19 counts of robbery while personally using a firearm, and five years for the prior serious felony conviction. With the exception of the sentence on the carjacking conviction, all sentences were one-third the middle term. The court imposed concurrent terms on the remaining convictions. Casper contends the matter must be remanded for resentencing because the trial court mistakenly believed it did not have discretion to impose concurrent terms on convictions for crimes that occurred on different occasions or did not arise from the same set of operative facts.

FACTS

During early October 1999, Casper burglarized his parents' home and stole credit cards, car keys, and a firearm. During the following month, he robbed or attempted to rob victims at various retail establishments and a woman in her car. He also stole one car with the keys he had earlier taken from his parents' home and stole another car at gunpoint. His strike was a 1993 conviction for residential burglary.

At the sentencing hearing, the court expressed its opinion that in the interests of justice to Casper and to society, a sentence should be imposed to give Casper the opportunity to be released from prison before he died. However, the court concluded that section 667, subdivisions (c)(6) and (c)(7) required it to impose consecutive terms on current convictions for crimes occurring on different occasions and not arising out of the same set of operative facts, which resulted in a prison term of 104 years 8 months.

DISCUSSION

The trial court in its discretion may dismiss a strike allegation. (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, 529-530, 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 789, 917 P.2d 628.) To dismiss the strike allegation the court must consider whether, considering the nature and circumstances of his or her present criminal activity and prior strikes, the defendant may be deemed outside the spirit of the "Three Strikes" law's sentencing scheme, and therefore should be treated as though he or she had not committed one or more of the serious or violent felonies alleged as strikes. (People v. Williams (1998) 17 Cal.4th 148, 162-163, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 917, 948 P.2d 429.)

At the sentencing hearing the trial court, as authorized by People v. Garcia (1999) 20 Cal.4th 490, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 280, 976 P.2d 831, in which the Supreme Court held that the trial court has discretion to dismiss strike allegations on fewer than all of the current convictions, dismissed the strike allegation on all but one of the current convictions. It then determined that because one strike allegation found true remained in effect on one current conviction, it was required to impose consecutive terms for all current convictions for crimes occurring on different occasions and not arising out of the same set of operative facts even though it had dismissed the strike allegations on those convictions.

In People v. Garcia, supra, 20 Cal.4th 490, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 280, 976 P.2d 831, the defendant was convicted of two counts of residential burglary that did not occur on *371 the same occasion and did not arise out of the same set of operative facts. (§ 667, subd. (c)(6).) Five strikes alleged in each burglary count were found true. At sentencing the trial court dismissed all strike allegations in one burglary count, leaving intact the true finding of two or more strike allegations in the other burglary count. The trial court sentenced the defendant to a prison term of 30 years to life on the burglary count in which the true finding of strike allegations remained extant: 25 years to life under section 667, subdivision (e)(2)(A)(ii) plus five years under section 667, subdivision (a)(1). The trial court sentenced the defendant to a consecutive prison term of 16 months on the burglary count in which the strike allegation had been dismissed (one-third the midterm of four years). Garcia held that the trial court was authorized by section 1385 to dismiss strike allegations in one count and not in another. Garcia further held that the length of the sentence on the count in which the strike allegation was dismissed was the term prescribed for that count without reference to the Three Strikes law rather than the enhanced sentence prescribed by section 667, subdivision (e) of the Three Strikes law. Garcia did not, however, determine whether under these circumstances the sentence for the conviction on which the strike allegations were dismissed must be imposed consecutively to the sentence on the conviction on which the strike allegations remained extant, or whether the sentence for the conviction on which the strike allegations were dismissed should be full term or one-third the middle term. In Garcia, the sentence of one-third the middle term was imposed consecutively and the issue of the correctness of imposition of the consecutive sentences was not raised by the defendant. With regard to the sentence of onethird the middle term on the current conviction on which the strike allegations were dismissed, the Garcia court stated: "After we filed our opinion, the question arose whether this calculation was legally correct. We express no opinion on this point but merely recite what the trial court actually did and decide the sole issue on which we granted review." (Garcia,

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Related

People v. Williams
948 P.2d 429 (California Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Superior Court (Romero)
917 P.2d 628 (California Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Garcia
976 P.2d 831 (California Supreme Court, 1999)
People v. Burke
301 P.2d 241 (California Supreme Court, 1956)
People v. Bradford
549 P.2d 1225 (California Supreme Court, 1976)
People v. Johnson
129 Cal. Rptr. 2d 500 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
In Re Cervera
16 P.3d 176 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
Guitron v. Rodriguez
288 P. 134 (California Court of Appeal, 1930)
People v. Scott
885 P.2d 1040 (California Supreme Court, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
130 Cal. Rptr. 2d 368, 105 Cal. App. 4th 1373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-casper-calctapp-2003.