People v. Guerrero

19 Cal. App. 4th 401, 23 Cal. Rptr. 2d 803
California Court of Appeal·Decided October 8, 1993·No. B069788·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

19 Cal.App.4th 401 (1993)
23 Cal. Rptr.2d 803

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
EDWARD PENALES GUERRERO, Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. B069788.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Five.

October 8, 1993.

*402 COUNSEL

Mona D. Miller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Carol Wendelin Pollack, Assistant Attorney General, Linda C. Johnson and Lance E. Winters, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

[Opinion certified for partial publication.[*]]

OPINION

TURNER, P.J. —

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant appeals his convictions for two counts of first degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459)[1] plus one finding that he had previously experienced a serious felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)) and two findings he had served prior prison terms. (§ 667.5, subd. (b).) On appeal, he contends: (1) his due process and confrontation rights were violated; (2) there was instructional *403 error; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to support the enhancement findings. In the published portion of this opinion, we determine that there was substantial evidence to support the finding that he had previously been convicted of a serious felony. Although one of the prior prison term enhancements must be reversed, we reject all of defendant's other contentions.

II. DISCUSSION

A., B.[*]

.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .

C. The prior serious conviction

Defendant argues there was insufficient evidence his prior conviction for bank robbery was a serious felony under California law. In the information, it was alleged that defendant had previously been convicted of the crime of bank robbery and that such constituted a serious felony. Specifically, the pertinent language in the information stated: "It is further alleged in Count(s) 1 and 2 that said defendant(s), Edward Penales Guerrero, was on and about the 29th day of June, 1981, in the U.S. Central District Court of the State of California, convicted of a serious felony, to wit, BANK ROBBERY, case No. CR81-271(a), in violation of Section 18-2113(a) of the United States Code, within the meaning of Penal Code Section 667(a)." After the jury verdict was returned, defendant agreed to a court trial on the issue of the alleged prior serious felonies and prison terms. During the bench trial, the judgment of defendant's prior federal bank robbery conviction was introduced into evidence. It conformed to the allegations in the information in the present case and stated that defendant had been convicted of "robbery of a bank in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) as charged in the First Superseding Information filed May 11, 1981," before Judge Robert M. Takasugi. Of material consequence to the issues in the present case, the federal judgment indicated defendant pled guilty. Additionally, there was a computer printout which confirmed that defendant had been convicted in the case number and on the dates alleged in the information filed in this case. Moreover, a United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, document indicated that defendant was serving a term as a result of his sentencing on the date alleged in the information in this case for the crime of "Bank Robbery."

Section 667, subdivision (a) provides an additional five-year enhancement if a defendant is convicted of a serious felony and has also previously experienced such a conviction. Section 667, subdivision (d) defines a "`serious felony'" as one of the offenses listed in section 1192.7, subdivision *404 (c). Prior to 1989, section 1192.7, subdivision (c)(19) made no reference to bank robbery. Effective January 1, 1989, section 1192.7, subdivision (c) was amended to make "bank robbery" a serious felony. Section 1192.7, subdivision (c) now states in pertinent part: "As used in this section, `serious felony' means any of the following: [¶] ... (19) robbery or bank robbery...." (Stats. 1988 ch. 432, § 2, pp. 1815-1816.) Section 1192.7, subdivision (d) was further amended effective January 1, 1989, and now contains the following definition as to what is meant by the crime "bank robbery" as it appears in subdivision (c): "As used in this section, `bank robbery' means to take or attempt to take, by force or violence, or by intimidation from the person or presence of another any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association. [¶] As used in this subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings: [¶] (1) `Bank' means any member bank of the Federal Reserve System, and any bank, banking association, trust company, savings bank, or other banking institution organized or operating under the laws of the United States, and any bank the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. [¶] (2) `Savings and loan association' means any federal savings and loan association and any `insured institution' as defined in Section 401 of the National Housing Act, as amended, and any federal credit union as defined in Section 2 of the Federal Credit Union Act. [¶] (3) `Credit union' means any federal credit union and any state-chartered credit union the accounts of which are insured by the Administrator of the National Credit Union Administration."

Title 18 United States Code section 2113(a), as it was in effect at the time defendant was convicted of bank robbery in United States District Court, stated: "Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association; or [¶] Whoever enters or attempts to enter any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association, or any building used in whole or in part as a bank, credit union, or as a savings and loan association, with intent to commit in such bank, credit union, or in such savings and loan association, or building, or part thereof, so used, any felony affecting such bank, credit union, or such savings and loan association and in violation of any statute of the United States, or any larceny — [¶] Shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both." (Act of June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 796 as amended by Act of Aug. 3, 1950, ch. 516, 64 Stat. 394 and Act of Oct. 19, 1970, ch. 468, 84 Stat. 1017; see Simpson v. United States (1978) 435 U.S. 6, 7, fn. 1 [55 L.Ed.2d 70, 73, 98 S.Ct. 909].)

*405 Prior to 1989, Courts of Appeal held that a prior felony bank robbery conviction was not a serious felony for purposes of a section 667, subdivision (a) enhancement. Various Courts of Appeal noted that a violation of 18 United States Code section 2113(a) did not require a specific intent to permanently deprive the victim of the property taken in the bank robbery. (People v. Ellis (1987) 195 Cal. App.3d 334, 339-343 [240 Cal. Rptr. 708]; People v. Leever (1985) 173 Cal. App.3d 853, 872-873 [219 Cal. Rptr. 581]; People v. Enriquez (1984) 159 Cal.

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People v. Guerrero, 19 Cal. App. 4th 401, 23 Cal. Rptr. 2d 803 (Cal. Ct. App. 1993).

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