People v. Guillen

25 Cal. App. 4th 756, 31 Cal. Rptr. 653, 31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 653, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4221, 94 Daily Journal DAR 7797, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 569
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 6, 1994
DocketB073647
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 25 Cal. App. 4th 756 (People v. Guillen) 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. Guillen, 25 Cal. App. 4th 756, 31 Cal. Rptr. 653, 31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 653, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4221, 94 Daily Journal DAR 7797, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 569 (Cal. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

*759 Opinion

EPSTEIN, J.

In this case we consider whether double jeopardy and Penal Code section 1157 bar retrial of a large quantity enhancement when a defendant is found guilty of possession for sale but the jury is unable to reach a verdict on the enhancement. We conclude that retrial is proper under these circumstances. We modify the judgment to correct a credit miscalculation, and affirm the judgment as modified.

Factual and Procedural Summary

During surveillance of a residence at 750 Broadway in Venice on April 16, 1991, Los Angeles Police Detective Anthony Manente observed appellant Javier Guillen exit the front door carrying a cellular phone and a black leather pouch. Appellant walked out to the sidewalk. After a few minutes, a man walked up to appellant and the two engaged in conversation. The man who had approached appellant reached into his pocket and handed some money to appellant. Appellant reached into the black leather pouch, removed something and handed it to the man. Appellant put the money in his pocket and the man left.

On April 23, 1991, Detective Manente and other officers returned to the address with a search warrant. They watched as appellant walked through a gate between the residence and a detached garage, and then returned to the front door of the residence and entered with a key.

A pager, $991, and a set of keys were found in appellant’s possession. The keys opened the front door of the house, appellant’s vehicle, and the security door to the garage. In a bedroom, later determined to be used by appellant’s brother, officers found $3,700 in a jacket that appeared to fit the brother. In another bedroom, officers found $1,500 and a handgun.

The officers found a cellular phone and charger on a kitchen counter. Behind the phone was the black leather pouch seen on appellant’s person seven days before. The pouch contained a clear plastic baggie with 8.63 grams of cocaine inside.

The officers then went to the detached garage. One of the keys taken from appellant opened the dead bolt on the security door, but none of them opened the entry lock. The officers broke the door and entered.

They observed a garage which had been converted into an apartment, although it contained no food, dishes or kitchen appliances. Mail, including *760 bank statements addressed to appellant at that address, and a checkbook in appellant’s name, were found on a counter in the kitchen.

In one of the garage bedrooms, the officers discovered two scales, each on top of a nightstand. They found a plastic garbage bag and two boxes of plastic baggies secreted between the nightstands. The plastic garbage bag contained an open box of baking soda, a metal pan, a spatula, several large plastic baggies, a number of rubber gloves, and a plastic baggie containing a white residue.

In a second garage bedroom, the officers retrieved two baggies containing a total of 17.73 grams of cocaine from a sewing cabinet. They found a large cardboard box in a closet which contained 17 kilogram-size packages. The packages held a total of 36.4 pounds of cocaine.

Appellant was charged by information with one count of possession for sale of cocaine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351; all statutory references are to this code unless noted) with an allegation that the weight of cocaine possessed exceeded 25 pounds, within the meaning of section 11370.4, subdivision (a).

Trial was by jury. Appellant was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance for sale, as charged. The jury was unable to reach a decision on the weight enhancement, and a mistrial was declared as to that allegation. Appellant moved to dismiss the weight enhancement on double jeopardy grounds and on the basis of Penal Code section 1157. His motion was denied. Appellant and all counsel then waived jury trial on the enhancement and submitted the matter to the court on the transcript of the previous trial. Both sides further stipulated that if the court found the enhancement allegation to be true, it would be for the lesser (10-pound) weight enhancement of section 11370.4, subdivision (a)(2). The court stated that appellant was guilty of possession of a controlled substance for sale, and it found the lesser weight allegation of section 11370.4, subdivision (a)(2) to be true. He was sentenced to a term of two years on count 1, and five years on the weight enhancement. This is a timely appeal from the judgment of conviction.

Discussion

I

Appellant claims it was a violation of the double jeopardy clause to subject him to retrial on the weight enhancement to count 1 after the jury had convicted him on that count.

*761 The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb . . . This guarantee is applicable to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment (Benton v. Maryland (1969) 395 U.S. 784, 794 [23 L.Ed.2d 707, 715-716, 89 S.Ct. 2056]), and is afforded as well by the California Constitution, article I, section 15.

The double jeopardy clause includes several protections: “ ‘It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. And it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.’ [Citation.]” (Schiro v. Farley (1994) 510 U.S. _ [127 L.Ed.2d 47, 56, 114 S.Ct. 783, 789].) Double jeopardy also may bar retrial even though no verdict has been rendered. “Once jeopardy has attached, discharge of the jury without a verdict is tantamount to an acquittal and prevents a retrial, unless the defendant consented to the discharge or legal necessity required it. [Citations.] ‘Such a legal necessity exists if, at the conclusion of such time as the court deems proper, it satisfactorily appears to the court that there is no reasonable probability that the jury can resolve its difference and render a verdict. Under these circumstances the court may properly discharge the jury and reset for trial.’ [Citations.]” (Stone v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 503, 516 [183 Cal.Rptr. 647, 646 P.2d 809].)

Double jeopardy principles have been held to bar retrial of a weight enhancement allegation where the true finding was reversed for insufficiency of evidence. (People v. Bonner (1979) 97 Cal.App.3d 573, 575 [158 Cal.Rptr. 821].) “The Double Jeopardy Clause forbids a second trial for the purpose of affording the prosecution another opportunity to supply evidence which it failed to muster in the first proceeding. This is central to the objective of the prohibition against successive trials.” (Burks v. United States (1978) 437 U.S. 1, 11 [57 L.Ed.2d 1, 9, 98 S.Ct. 2141]; People v. Bonner, supra, 97 Cal.App.3d at pp. 574-575.)

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25 Cal. App. 4th 756, 31 Cal. Rptr. 653, 31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 653, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4221, 94 Daily Journal DAR 7797, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-guillen-calctapp-1994.