People v. Delgado

45 Cal. Rptr. 3d 501, 140 Cal. App. 4th 1157, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 8265, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5856, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 971
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 27, 2006
DocketA109991
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 45 Cal. Rptr. 3d 501 (People v. Delgado) 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. Delgado, 45 Cal. Rptr. 3d 501, 140 Cal. App. 4th 1157, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 8265, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5856, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 971 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Opinion

RUVOLO, P. J.

The only issue on appeal is whether the constitutional ban on ex post facto laws prohibits the imposition of probation conditions pursuant to Penal Code 1 section 1203.097, governing cases involving domestic violence, where the underlying offenses were committed before the statute was enacted. We hold that application of section 1203.097 in this case violates ex post facto principles. We vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

I.

BACKGROUND

On January 4, 1993, defendant Margarito Martinez Delgado was charged with three offenses committed on January 3, 1993: count one, attempted unlawful sexual intercourse (§§ 664, 261, subd. (a)(2)); count two, sexual battery (§ 243.4, subd. (a)); and count three, felony false imprisonment (§ 236) 2 Defendant entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment on January 5, 1993. Defendant then failed to appear at his next hearing. A bench warrant was issued, but defendant remained at large for the next 12 years.

*1162 On March 10, 2005, defendant was again arraigned and again entered a plea of not guilty to all three counts. A first amended complaint was filed on March 16, 2005, which realleged the previous three counts, and added an additional offense committed on January 3, 1993: count four, infliction of corporal injury upon a spouse or cohabitant (§ 273.5, subd. (a)). A new complaint was also filed that same day, alleging defendant violated section 1320, subdivision (b), by failing to appear in court.

Defendant pleaded guilty to counts three (felony false imprisonment) and four (corporal injury to spouse or cohabitant) of the amended complaint. He also pleaded guilty to the single count in the new complaint for violating section 1320, subdivision (b). Counts one and two were dismissed with a Harvey 3 waiver.

On April 13, 2005, imposition of sentence was suspended on counts three and four, and defendant was placed on probation pursuant to section 1203.097. 4 The conditions of probation included, inter alia, (1) 36 months of supervised probation; (2) 40 hours of community service work; and (3) a domestic violence payment of $400. Defense counsel argued that defendant could not be sentenced under section 1203.097 because the underlying offenses occurred before the effective date of that statute. Section 1203.097 was enacted on September 21, 1994. (Stats. 1993-1994, 1st Ex. Sess., ch. 28, § 4, p. 8615.) Defendant committed the offenses in question on January 3, 1993. At the time, a person convicted of violating former section 273.5 was subject to punishment by “imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3 or 4 years, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000) or by both.” (Former § 273.5, subd. (a).) In the event probation was granted, participation in a batterer’s treatment program was required, unless the court found that participation in such a program was inappropriate for the defendant. (Former § 273.5, subd. (e).) Additionally, the suspension of the sentence could not exceed the maximum possible term of the sentence. (Former § 1203.1.)

Current law provides that if probation is granted to any person convicted of violating section 273.5, subdivision (a), “the court shall impose probation consistent with the provisions of Section 1203.097.” (§ 273.5, subd. (f).) Section 1203.097 imposes several mandatory conditions of probation for a crime involving domestic violence, including: (1) a minimum period of probation of 36 months (§ 1203.097, subd. (a)(1); (2) a minimum payment of $400 [two-thirds to finance local domestic violence programs and one-third to *1163 finance statewide domestic violence funds] (§ 1203.097, subd. (a)(5); and (3) a specified amount of community service (§ 1203.097, subd. (a)(8)). 5

The trial court determined that sentencing under section 1203.097 was permissible because the statute applied to grants of probation without reference to the date of the offense. This timely appeal followed.

n.

DISCUSSION

Courts generally have considerable discretion in fashioning the terms of probation. (See § 1203 et seq.) “A condition of probation will not be invalid unless it[:] ‘(1) has no relationship to the crime of which the offender was convicted, (2) relates to conduct which is not itself criminal, and (3) requires or forbids conduct which is not reasonably related to future criminality . . . .’ [Citation.] Conversely, a condition of probation which requires or forbids conduct which is not itself criminal is valid if that conduct is reasonably related to the crime of which the defendant was convicted or to future criminality.” (People v. Lent (1975) 15 Cal.3d 481, 486 [124 Cal.Rptr. 905, 541 P.2d 545], fn. omitted.)

However, when a court grants probation in a case involving domestic violence, section 1203.097 requires a trial court to impose numerous mandatory conditions of probation. Defendant contends the imposition of the mandatory probation conditions set forth in section 1203.097 is an ex post facto application of the law. The People, on the other hand, contend there is no ex post facto violation because prior to the enactment of section 1203.097, the trial court had discretion to impose the conditions of probation challenged on appeal.

A. Ex Post Facto Principles

Both the federal and state Constitutions prohibit ex post facto laws. (U.S. Const., art. I, § 10; Cal. Const., art. I, § 9; Collins v. Youngblood (1990) 497 U.S. 37, 41 [111 L.Ed.2d 30, 110 S.Ct. 2715] (Collins); Tapia v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 282, 288 [279 Cal.Rptr. 592, 807 P.2d 434] (Tapia).) *1164 We interpret the state ex post facto clause no differently than its federal counterpart. 6 (People v. Snook (1997) 16 Cal.4th 1210, 1220 [69 Cal.Rptr.2d 615, 947 P.2d 808].)

The traditional understanding of the ex post facto clause was expressed in Beazell v. Ohio (1925) 269 U.S. 167, 169-170 [70 L.Ed. 216, 46 S.Ct. 68], as follows: “It is settled . . . that any statute which punishes as a crime an act previously committed, which was innocent when done; which makes more burdensome the punishment for a crime, after its commission, or which deprives one charged with [a] crime of any defense available according to law at the time when the act committed, is prohibited as ex post facto.” (Italics omitted; see Tapia, supra, 53 Cal.3d at pp. 293-294; People v. McVickers

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45 Cal. Rptr. 3d 501, 140 Cal. App. 4th 1157, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 8265, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5856, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-delgado-calctapp-2006.