People v. Gipson

213 Cal. App. 4th 1523, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 428, 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 152
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 28, 2013
DocketNo. B241551
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 213 Cal. App. 4th 1523 (People v. Gipson) 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. Gipson, 213 Cal. App. 4th 1523, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 428, 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 152 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion

ASHMANN-GERST, J.

James Davis Gipson, Jr. (Gipson), appeals from the order revoking his probation, vacating the suspension of a previously [1526]*1526imposed sentence and committing him to prison for five years. He contends that there was insufficient evidence of a probation violation. In addition, he argues that his commitment to state prison violates the Criminal Justice Realignment Act of 2011 (Realignment Act) because his sentence was executed after the threshold date of October 1, 2011. Neither contention has merit.

With respect to the Realignment Act, we note that in People v. Clytus (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1001, 1004 [147 Cal.Rptr.3d 448] (Clytus), Division Eight of our district held that a defendant is sentenced for purposes of the Realignment Act on the date a trial court orders a previously imposed but suspended sentence to be executed. We disagree with Clytus and hold that a defendant is sentenced on the date that sentence is first announced and imposed even if execution of the sentence does not happen until a later date.

We affirm.

FACTS

Gipson is a member of a gang called the Grape Street Crips.

He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while a felon, in violation of Penal Code former section 12021, subdivision (a)(1),1 and to possessing an assault rifle in violation of former section 12280, subdivision (b).2 In addition, he admitted that he committed the crimes for the benefit of a gang within the meaning of section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1)(A). On October 12, 2010, he was sentenced to five years in state prison.3 The sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for three years. As a condition of his probation, Gipson was told not to associate with known gang members.

On May 29, 2012, Officer Daniel Pearce of the Los Angeles Police Department was called to testify at a probation revocation hearing. He relayed the following facts. He is assigned to Jordan Downs and is familiar with the Grape Street Crips. After working with this gang, he knows a [1527]*1527majority of its 2,000 members. The members all grew up together and know each other. For personal safety, they have to know each other in order to identify friends from enemies. The members of the gang mainly hang out inside Jordan Downs. Officer Pearce has had a lot of contact with Gipson. On January 17, 2012, while assigned to a beat in Jordan Downs, Officer Pearce saw Gipson in a parking lot. For about five to 10 seconds, Gipson was standing in the company of three Grape Street Crips: Rodney Johnson (Johnson), Ronald Brim (Brim) and Johnny Bailey (Bailey). Based on how they were positioned, it appeared to Officer Pearce that Gipson was talking to Johnson. Officer Pearce is on a first name basis with Johnson and has had contact with Johnson about five times a year. In the past, Johnson admitted to being a gang member. Every parking lot in Jordan Downs is a known hangout for the Grape Street Crips.

The trial court found that Gipson violated his probation by associating with known gang members. Probation was revoked and Gipson was sentenced to five years in state prison.

This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

I. The Revocation of Probation.

According to Gipson, his probation was improperly revoked because there was no evidence that he knew that Johnson was a gang member. As we discuss below, this argument lacks merit.

Probation can be revoked “if the interests of justice so require and the [trial] court, in its judgment, has reason to believe from the report of the probation officer or otherwise that the person has violated any of the conditions of his or her probation.” (Former § 1203.2, subd. (a).) Based on the testimony of Officer Pearce, the trial court had sufficient reason to believe that Gipson knowingly associated with a gang member.

There is an inference that Gipson knew Johnson was a gang member—and Brim and Bailey, too—because Grape Street Crips all grew up together and know each other. For personal safety, they have to know each other so that they can differentiate friends from enemies. In addition, Gipson spoke to Johnson in a parking lot in Jordan Downs. Grape Street Crips are known to hang out inside Jordan Downs parking lots. Taken together, the facts show that a gang member on probation was speaking to another gang member in a gang hangout within that particular gang’s territory. As a matter of logic, Gipson’s knowledge that he was violating probation is powerfully implied.

[1528]*1528According to Gipson, this evidence was insufficient because it established nothing more than a general pattern that Grape Street Crips know each other. Though he does not say it expressly, he suggests that the inference of knowledge is too speculative to withstand scrutiny under the substantial evidence test. (Roddenberry v. Roddenberry (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 634, 651 [51 Cal.Rptr.2d 907] [“Inferences may constitute substantial evidence, but they must be the product of logic and reason. Speculation or conjecture alone is not substantial evidence.”].) We disagree. Each fact attested to by Officer Pearce, taken alone, would be insufficient to support an inference of knowledge. But, cumulatively, the inference of Gipson’s knowledge is sufficiently solid.4

II. The Commitment to State Prison.

The Realignment Act replaced “prison commitments with county jail commitments for certain felonies and eligible defendants.” (Clytus, supra, 209 Cal.App.4th at p. 1004.) It realigns “ ‘low-level felony offenders who do not have prior convictions for serious, violent, or sex offenses to locally run community-based corrections programs.’ ” (Id. at p. 1005.) Pursuant to section 1170, subdivision (h)(6), the “sentencing changes made by the [Realignment Act] . . . shall be applied prospectively to any person sentenced on or after October 1, 2011.”

It is undisputed that Gipson does not have a prior conviction for a serious, violent or sex offense. Although he was sentenced on October 12, 2010, the sentence was suspended and not executed until May 29, 2012. The question presented is whether, for purposes of the Realignment Act, he was sentenced on the former date or the latter date.

If we followed Clytus, Gipson would have to serve his term in county jail. In that case, the defendant was sentenced in 2010 but the trial court suspended the sentence and granted probation. At a probation violation hearing held on October 14, 2011, the defendant admitted to violating probation. The trial court executed the suspended sentence and ordered the defendant to serve his term in state prison. (Clytus, supra, 209 Cal.App.4th at p. 1004.) The defendant appealed his state prison commitment. Clytus concluded “that a trial court executing a suspended sentence as punishment [1529]*1529for a probation violation on and after October 1, 2011, has no discretion to send to prison a defendant whose criminal record and current felony convictions qualify for a county jail commitment under section 1170, subdivision (h).” (Clytus, supra, at p.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
213 Cal. App. 4th 1523, 153 Cal. Rptr. 3d 428, 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gipson-calctapp-2013.