People v. Conley

373 P.3d 435, 63 Cal. 4th 646, 203 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 2016 Cal. LEXIS 4578, 16 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7001
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 30, 2016
DocketS211275
StatusPublished
Cited by244 cases

This text of 373 P.3d 435 (People v. Conley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Conley, 373 P.3d 435, 63 Cal. 4th 646, 203 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 2016 Cal. LEXIS 4578, 16 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7001 (Cal. 2016).

Opinions

Opinion

KRUGER, J.

Under the “Three Strikes” law as originally enacted in 1994, an individual convicted of any felony offense following two prior convictions for serious or violent felonies was subject to an indeterminate term of life imprisonment with a minimum term of no less than 25 years. (Pen. Code, former §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subd. (c)(2).) In 2012, the electorate passed the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (Reform Act or Act) (Prop. 36, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 6, 2012)), which amended the law to reduce the punishment prescribed for certain third strike defendants. The electorate also authorized persons “presently serving” an indeterminate term of life imprisonment imposed under the prior version of the law to seek resentencing under the amended penalty scheme by filing a petition for recall of sentence. (Pen. Code, § 1170.126, subd. (a).) Under the Act, a court must [652]*652grant a recall petition unless it determines that resentencing the petitioner “would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.” (§ 1170.126, subd. (1).)

The Reform Act took effect on November 7, 2012. The question in this case is whether third strike defendants who were sentenced under the Three Strikes law before November 7, 2012, but whose judgments were not yet final as of that date, are entitled to automatic resentencing under the revised penalty provisions of the Reform Act. We conclude that these defendants are not entitled to automatic resentencing, but instead may seek resentencing by petitioning for recall of sentence under section 1170.126.

I.

A.

Enacted “to ensure longer prison sentences and greater punishment for those who commit a felony and have been previously convicted of serious and/or violent felony offenses” (Pen. Code, former § 667, subd. (b), as amended by Stats. 1994, ch. 12, § 1, pp. 71, 72), the Three Strikes law “consists of two, nearly identical statutory schemes.” (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, 504 [53 Cal.Rptr.2d 789, 917 P.2d 628] (Romero).) The first of these schemes was enacted by the Legislature in March 1994. (Pen. Code, former § 667, subds. (b)-(i).) The second was enacted by ballot initiative in November of the same year. (Pen. Code, former § 1170.12, added by Prop. 184, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 8, 1994) (Proposition 184).) The two statutes differ only in minor respects not relevant here. (Accord, Romero, at p. 505.)1

Under the Three Strikes law as originally enacted, a felony defendant who had been convicted of a single prior serious or violent felony (a second strike defendant) was to be sentenced to a term equal to “twice the term otherwise provided as punishment for the current felony conviction.” (Pen. Code, former § 1170.12, subd. (c)(1).) By contrast, a defendant who had been convicted of two or more prior serious or violent felonies (a third strike defendant) was to be sentenced to “an indeterminate term of life imprisonment with a minimum term of’ at least 25 years. (Pen. Code, former § 1170.12, subd. (c)(2).)

The Reform Act changed the sentence prescribed for a third strike defendant whose current offense is not a serious or violent felony. (See Teal v. Superior Court (2014) 60 Cal.4th 595, 596-597 [179 Cal.Rptr.3d 365, [653]*653336 P.3d 686].) Under the Reform Act’s revised penalty provisions, many third strike defendants are excepted from the provision imposing an indeterminate life sentence (see Pen. Code, § 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(A)) and are instead sentenced in the same way as second strike defendants (see id., subd. (c)(2)(C)): that is, they receive a term equal to “twice the term otherwise provided as punishment for the current felony conviction” (id., subd. (c)(1)). A defendant does not qualify for this ameliorative change, however, if his current offense is a controlled substance charge involving large quantities (id., subd. (c)(2)(C)(i)), one of various enumerated sex offenses (id., subd. (c)(2)(C)(ii)), or one in which he used a firearm, was armed with a firearm or deadly weapon, or intended to cause great bodily injury (id., subd. (c)(2)(C)(iii)). The ameliorative provisions of the Reform Act also do not apply in cases in which the defendant was previously convicted of certain enumerated offenses, including those involving sexual violence, child sexual abuse, homicide or attempted homicide, solicitation to commit murder, assault with a machine gun on a peace officer or firefighter, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, or any serious or violent felony punishable by life imprisonment or death. (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(C)(iv)(I)—(VIII).) The Act provides that these disqualifying factors must be pleaded and proved by the prosecution. (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(C).)

In the Reform Act, the voters also established a procedure for “persons presently serving an indeterminate term of imprisonment” under the prior version of the Three Strikes law to seek resentencing under the Reform Act’s revised penalty structure. (Pen. Code, § 1170.126, subd. (a).) Under section 1170.126, “within two years after the effective date of the act . . . or at a later date upon a showing of good cause,” such persons can file a petition for a recall of sentence before the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction. (Id., subd. (b).) If the petitioner would have qualified for a shorter sentence under the Reform Act version of the law, taking into consideration the disqualifying factors (§ 1170.126, subds. (e), (1)), section 1170.126 provides that he “shall be resentenced pursuant to [the Reform Act] unless the court, in its discretion, determines that resentencing the petitioner would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety” (id., subd. (1)). In exercising this discretion, the court may consider the defendant’s criminal conviction history, the defendant’s disciplinary record and record of rehabilitation while incarcerated, and “[a]ny other evidence the court . . . determines to be relevant.” (Id., subd. (g).)

[654]*654B.

In October 2010, a California Highway Patrol officer observed defendant Patrick Lee Conley retrieving tools from the middle of a county road.2 Defendant’s pickup truck was parked nearby, partially blocking a lane of the road. Defendant appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol. At first, defendant claimed that his son had been driving the truck and had gone to get gas, but later defendant admitted that he had been the driver. Defendant also admitted that he had consumed a few cans of malt liquor at his son’s house. After defendant failed a series of field sobriety tests, the highway patrol officer arrested him. Defendant’s blood was drawn at a hospital approximately an hour after he was first stopped. Testing showed defendant’s blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.19 percent.

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)) and driving with a BAC of 0.08 percent or more (id., § 23152, subd. (b)), with enhancements for refusing to take a chemical test (id., § 23578).3 The jury also found true allegations that defendant had four prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (see Veh. Code, § 23550), that he had served three prior prison terms (Pen.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
373 P.3d 435, 63 Cal. 4th 646, 203 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 2016 Cal. LEXIS 4578, 16 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7001, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-conley-cal-2016.