People v. Garner

165 Cal. App. 3d 145, 211 Cal. Rptr. 267, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1703
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 28, 1985
DocketF002649
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 165 Cal. App. 3d 145 (People v. Garner) 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. Garner, 165 Cal. App. 3d 145, 211 Cal. Rptr. 267, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1703 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Opinion

THE COURT. *

Appellant was convicted on his guilty plea of one count of first degree burglary. He admitted allegations that he twice had been “convicted of a serious felony listed in subdivision (c) of section 1192.7 of the Penal Code, to wit: Burglary, in violation of Section 459 of the Penal Code, within the meaning of Section 667 of the Penal Code.” He also admitted having served a prior prison term for receiving stolen property. (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b).) Pursuant to plea bargain, the trial court dismissed two counts of receiving stolen property and an additional prior prison term enhancement. As part of the same plea bargain, appellant’s wife pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, §§ 496, 17, subd. (b)), and the trial court dismissed one count of burglary against her. Appellant was sentenced to prison for the six-year upper base term for the current crime, a one-year additional term for the prior prison term enhancement, and a five-year serious felony enhancement for each burglary prior.

On appeal from the judgment, appellant contends that the trial court improperly imposed the serious felony enhancements because 1) the guilty plea judge did not adequately advise him that the enhancements would have to be imposed and would have to run consecutively vis-a-vis the base term and each other; and 2) the information failed to allege and the prosecution failed to prove the residential character of either burglary prior. Appellant also contends that the trial court violated the dual use of facts prohibition (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (b)) and abused its discretion in imposing the upper base term for the current burglary. Respondent disagrees in all particulars.

In People v. Jackson (1985) 37 Cal.3d 826 [210 Cal.Rptr. 623, 694 P.2d 736], our Supreme Court recently addressed Penal Code section 667’s serious felony enhancement for “residential burglary.” (Pen. Code, § 1192.7, subd. (b)(18).) Finding that a section 667 enhancement is subject to pleading and proof requirements equivalent to those which Penal Code section 1170.1, subdivision (f) imposes for other enhancements (Jackson, supra, at p. 835, fn. 12), the court held “that defendant, having admitted that both *148 the current burglary and the third alleged prior burglary involved entry into a residence, is subject to an enhanced sentence pursuant to section 667.” (Id., at p. 837.)

Jackson had argued that since both his present and prior convictions were for second degree burglary, a crime of which entry into a residence was not an essential element, People v. Crowson (1983) 33 Cal.3d 623 [190 Cal.Rptr. 165, 660 P.2d 389] prevented the trial court from going beyond the defined crime elements to determine the nature of his crimes. In essence, the court held Crowson’s principles inapplicable as regards proof of the residential nature of the current burglary (People v. Jackson, supra, 37 Cal.3d 826, 833-836) but applicable to proof of the residential nature of the pre-Proposition 8 prior burglary. (Id., at pp. 836-837, and fn. 14.) On the latter point, the court reasoned as follows: “With respect to a prior burglary conviction, however, especially one such as defendant’s which antedates Proposition 8, proof of the residential character of the burglary encounters obstacles.14 The record of a conviction for second degree burglary would not prove entry into a residence, even if the pleadings included superfluous allegations to that effect. (People v. Crowson, supra, 33 Cal.3d 623, 634.) Moreover, the People could not go behind that record to prove a fact which was not then an element of the crime. (Id., at pp. 633-634; see In re Finley, supra, 68 Cal.2d 389, 393-394 [66 Cal.Rptr. 733, 438 P.2d 381]; In re McVickers (1946) 29 Cal.2d 264, 276 [176 P.2d 40]; People v. Hickey (1980) 109 Cal.App.3d 426, 438-439 [167 Cal.Rptr. 256].) A contrary holding, permitting the People to litigate the circumstances of a crime committed years in the past, would raise serious problems akin to double jeopardy and denial of speedy trial.

“There is no rule, however, which bars the defendant from admitting that a prior burglary involved entry into a residence, even if the prosecution is unable to prove the allegation. We permit a defendant in connection with a plea bargain to plead guilty to an offense with which he was not charged, and which the prosecution cannot prove, so long as it is reasonably related to defendant’s conduct. (People v. West (1970) 3 Cal.3d 595, 612-613 [91 Cal.Rptr. 385, 477 P.2d 409].) A defendant should have the same latitude with respect to enhancements; if, as part of a bargain, he finds it advantageous to admit an enhancement which the prosecution may be unable to prove, Crowson does not prevent the court from giving effect to that admission.”

The court’s footnote 14 provides: “In a post-Proposition 8 case, for the reasons we have explained, an allegation that a burglary involved entry into a residence is not a superfluous allegation. Even if the case involved the first serious felony charge against the defendant, proof of the residential character of the burglary would expose defendant to an enhanced punish *149 ment if he committed a later serious crime. Consequently, admissions or findings that a burglary was of a residence, established on the record of the conviction, could be used in a later proceeding to prove that the defendant had previously been convicted of a serious felony.” (Id., at p. 836.)

As noted, Jackson expressly admitted that his prior burglary had involved entry into a residence. Our review of the present record persuades us that the same cannot be said for appellant. Unlike the charging document in Jackson, the information here did not allege that either burglary prior was residential. Unlike in Jackson, at no point in the guilty plea proceedings did appellant expressly admit the residential nature of either prior. The relevant colloquy appears in the margin. 1

Arguably, since the information alleged each prior burglary as a serious felony listed in Penal Code section 1192.7, subdivision (c) and within the meaning of Penal Code section 667, and since the only serious felony burglary within section 1192.7, subdivision (c) is a residential burglary, one may infer that the pleader intended to allege a residential burglary. While this may be true, we would not discount the possibility that the pleader may have labored under the mistaken belief that all burglaries, whether or not residential, were serious felonies under sections 1192.7, subdivision (c) and 667.

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Bluebook (online)
165 Cal. App. 3d 145, 211 Cal. Rptr. 267, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1703, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-garner-calctapp-1985.