People v. Floyd

457 P.2d 862, 71 Cal. 2d 879, 80 Cal. Rptr. 22, 1969 Cal. LEXIS 292
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 20, 1969
DocketCrim. No. 13190
StatusPublished
Cited by103 cases

This text of 457 P.2d 862 (People v. Floyd) 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. Floyd, 457 P.2d 862, 71 Cal. 2d 879, 80 Cal. Rptr. 22, 1969 Cal. LEXIS 292 (Cal. 1969).

Opinion

PETERS, J.

In these consolidated cases, defendant was charged with one count of attempted robbery and three counts of robbery. It was also charged that defendant had suffered a prior conviction for robbery and that as to each count defendant was armed with a deadly weapon. After a trial without a jury, defendant was found not guilty of two counts of robbery but was found guilty of attempted robbery in the first degree and robbery in the first degree. The trial court found that the prior was true and that defendant was armed with a deadly' weapon at the time of the commission of the two offenses for which he was found guilty.

After the determination of guilt, defendant waived a probation report and asked for immediate sentence, pointing out that he was a parole violator and would be going to state prison in any event. The court sentenced him to state prison on the two counts for which he was convicted and stated that both sentences should run concurrently. The order did not state whether the sentences - should be consecutive or concur[881]*881rent to the count being served. About three weeks later, the court apparently in the absence of defendant or counsel, entered an order reciting that its earlier minute order did not reflect the order of the court and providing the earlier order is amended' nunc pro tunc to provide that the sentences would run consecutively to the sentence being served.

The first question relates to the propriety of the finding that defendant was armed at the time of the commission of the offenses. The question involves consideration of several code sections.

Section 211a of the Penal Code provides: “All robbery which is perpetrated by torture or by a person being armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon, and the robbery of any person who is performing his duties as operator of any motor vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley used for the transportation of persons for hire, is. robbery in the first degree. All other kinds of robbery are of the second degree.”1 Under section 213 of the Penal Code robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment for not less than five years, and robbery in the second by imprisonment for not less than one year.2 Under section 664 of the Penal Code the punishment for an attempt to commit an offense for which no maximum punishment is set by law is imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years.

Section 969e of the Penal Code provides that whenever “a defendant is armed with a firearm or other weapon under such circumstances as to bring said defendant within the operation of Section 3024 of the Penal Code relating to' certain ' minimum penalties or of Section 12022 of the Penal Code, the fact that the defendant was so armed may be charged in the accusatory pleading. ...” The section further provides that the question whether or not the accused was armed as alleged should be tried by the court or jury trying the issue of guilt and that if there is a guilty plea to the offense charged the question should be determined by the court before pronouncing judgment.

Section 3024 of the Penal Code provides: “The following shall be the minimum term of sentence and imprisonment in certain cases, notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, or any provision of law specifying a lesser sentence: (a) [882]*882For a person not previously convicted of a felony, but armec with a deadly weapon either at the time of his commission oi the offense, or a concealed deadly weapon at the time of his arrest, two years; (b) For a person previously convicted of i felony either in this State or elsewhere, and armed with a deadly weapon, either at the time of his commission of the offense, or a concealed deadly weapon at the time of his arrest, four years; (c) For a person previously convicted of a felony either in this State or elsewhere, but not armed with a deadly weapon at the time of his commission of the offense, or a concealed deadly weapon a.t the time of his arrest, two years; (d) For a person convicted at one trial of more than one felony, and upon whom are imposed cumulative or consecutive sentences the aggregate of the minimum terms of which exceed 10 years, 10 years; . . . ”

At the time of the offenses section 12022 of the Penal Code provided: “Any person who commits or attempts to commit any felony within this State while armed with any of the weapons mentioned in Section 12020 or while armed with any pistol, revolver, or other'firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, without having a license or permit to carry such firearm as provided by this chapter, upon conviction of such felony or of an attempt to commit such felony, shall in addition to the punishment prescribed for the crime of which he has been convicted, be punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for not less than five nor more than 10 years. Such additional period of imprisonment shall commence upon the expiration or other termination of the sentence imposed for the crime of which he is convicted and shall not run concurrently with such sentence.”3 The section makes further provision for convictions under like circumstances for second, third, fourth or subsequent convictions.

The application of the predecessor of section 12022 of the Penal Code to crimes in which a deadly weapon is a factor was considered in In re Shull, 23 Cal.2d 745, 749-752 [146 P.2d 417]. In that case the petitioner was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, and the court held that the provision for increased punishment now found in section 12022 was not applicable. The court reasoned that the assault statute is a special statute dealing with assaults where deadly weapons are used, that the provision now found in section 12022 is a [883]*883general statute providing for extra punishment, for the use of certain weapons in the commission of felonies generally, that the general rule is that a special statute controls over a general statute, and “the Legislature has fixed the punishment for an assault where a deadly weapon is used, a particular crime, and it is not to be supposed that for the same offense without any additional factor existing the added punishment should be imposed.” (23 Cal.2d at pp. 750-751.) The court also pointed out that the additional punishment is imposed where the use of the weapon is not one of the essential factors of the crime, such as rape. (23 Cal.2d at p. 750.)

In People v. Ford, 60 Cal.2d 772, 794 [36 Cal.Rptr. 620, 388 P.2d 892], it was held on the basis of Shull that the increased minimum penalty of section 3024 for being armed with a deadly weapon at the time of the offense did not apply to convictions for possession of a eoncealable weapon by an ex-felon and for assault with a deadly weapon.

The same reasoning applies to a conviction of robbery in the first degree on the basis of the fact that the defendant was armed, and sections 3024 and 12022 of the Penal Code are inapplicable. (People v. Flores, 262 Cal.App.2d 313, 321-322 [68 Cal.Rptr. 669]; People v. Sparks, 257 Cal.App.2d 306, 312 [64 Cal.Rptr. 682]; People v. Thomsen, 239 Cal.App.2d 84, 97-98 [48 Cal.Rptr. 455]; cf. People v. Bryant, 154 Cal.App.2d 121, 130-131 [315 P.2d 734]; In re Rodgers, 121 Cal.App.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
457 P.2d 862, 71 Cal. 2d 879, 80 Cal. Rptr. 22, 1969 Cal. LEXIS 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-floyd-cal-1969.