People v. Hudson

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 12, 2018
DocketF074016
StatusPublished

This text of People v. Hudson (People v. Hudson) 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. Hudson, (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Filed 10/5/18; pub. & mod. order 10/12/18 (see end of opn.)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F074016 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 1484556) v.

MARQUETTE LASHON HUDSON, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Stanislaus County. Ricardo Cordova, Judge. Allen G. Weinberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Kathleen A. McKenna and John W. Powell, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- INTRODUCTION Appellant Marquette Lashon Hudson was convicted by a jury of one count of mayhem in violation of Penal Code section 203.1 Afterwards, in a bifurcated trial, the court found true allegations that Hudson suffered a prior felony conviction within the meaning of section 667, subdivision (d), and a prior felony conviction within the meaning of section 667, subdivision (a). The trial court sentenced appellant to 21 years in state prison. Hudson’s sentence consisted of the following: the upper term of eight years for the single count of mayhem, doubled to 16 years as a result of the section 667, subdivision (d), enhancement, plus five years for the section 667, subdivision (a), enhancement. On appeal, Hudson does not challenge his conviction for mayhem. Rather, he contends that the trial court engaged in improper judicial factfinding to determine his prior conviction of assault from 1991 under section 245, subdivision (a)(1) (section 245(a)(1)), was a serious felony and a strike under California’s “Three Strikes” law, violating his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. Additionally, Hudson seeks to correct several clerical errors in the judgment. Upon review, we hold that, based on the recent California Supreme Court decision in People v. Gallardo (2017) 4 Cal.5th 120, 137 (Gallardo), the court erred in relying upon the preliminary hearing transcript to support the finding that the prior felony was a serious felony, and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with our holdings set forth below. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Factual Background Hudson and his family lived with his mother. During an argument, Hudson punched his mother in the back of the head and knocked her to the kitchen floor. He then jumped on her back, dragged her through the family room, pushed her into a sliding glass

1 Unless otherwise stated, all further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2. door, slammed her head against the floor several times, and bit off a section of her right ear. Her earlobe was surgically reattached later that evening. However, parts of the ear could not be reattached or repaired. II. Procedural Background After the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the mayhem count, the court held a separate trial without a jury in which the prosecution attempted to prove that the prior conviction for assault under section 245 (a)(1) was a serious felony. Former section 245(a)(1) punished both assault committed by means “likely to produce great bodily injury,” or by use of “a deadly weapon … other than a firearm.” Although the felony could be committed in one of two ways, “[o]nly the latter version[, i.e., assault with a deadly weapon,] qualifies as a serious felony.” (People v. Delgado (2008) 43 Cal.4th 1059, 1063 (Delgado).) The prosecution, therefore, presented several exhibits to show that the prior violation of section 245(a)(1) was for an assault with a deadly weapon. In the first amended complaint, dated August 1, 1990, it stated the assault charge was “a violation of Section 245(a)(1) …, in that said defendant(s) did then and there assault [victim], and by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.” The count as stated in the first amended complaint only charged Hudson with assault based on a theory involving great bodily injury and did not rely on a theory of use of a deadly weapon. An information was thereafter filed on August 24, 1990. The second count of the information again omitted language charging section 245(a)(1) based on assault with a deadly weapon. However, handwritten notes on the information added the following language to the charge: “defendants did then and there assault [victim] with a deadly weapon, to wit: a pipe, and by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.”

3. (Italics added.) Next to the handwritten language were the initials “WMcK/SC.”2 According to the report and sentence from the offense, Hudson pled nolo contendere on February 27, 1991, to “section 245(a)(1) … as charged in Count 2 of the Information.” However, the document does not specify the theory, if any, upon which Hudson pled guilty to section 245(a)(1). At the bifurcated trial, the prosecution presented two forms, the abstract of judgment and fingerprint card, which describe the crime committed under section 245(a)(1) as assault with a deadly weapon.3 The court was also provided the transcript of the preliminary hearing, during which the victim described Hudson beating him with a metal pipe. The trial court reviewed the materials submitted and noted that “[t]here is reference in the prelim[inary hearing] transcript to a pipe being used by [Hudson], and the plea was to Count 2 of the information, … Hudson and his codefendants assaulted the alleged victim … with a deadly weapon, to wit, a pipe.” The court then found the prior conviction met the legal requirements necessary to qualify as a strike and a serious prior felony. DISCUSSION

I. Determination Whether the Prior Conviction Qualifies as a Serious Felony Hudson does not dispute that he has a prior conviction under section 245(a)(1). Rather, he challenges the trial court’s finding that this conviction qualified as a serious felony and strike for sentencing purposes.

2 Appellant contends that the initials are those of the trial court judge, William McKinstry, and the courtroom clerk, Sue Caine. 3 On both forms, the space for describing the nature of the crime is small. On the abstract of judgment form, the name of the crime was abbreviated to “Assault w/deadly weapon” and the fingerprint card stated “Ct2 PC245(a) ADW.”

4. “The People must prove all elements of an alleged sentence enhancement beyond a reasonable doubt.” (People v. Miles (2008) 43 Cal.4th 1074, 1082.) “On review, we examine the record in the light most favorable to the judgment to ascertain whether it is supported by substantial evidence. In other words, we determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found that the prosecution sustained its burden of proving the elements of the sentence enhancement beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Delgado, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1067.) In 1991, when Hudson pled no contest in the prior case, former section 245(a)(1) provided: “Every person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm or by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury is punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years .…” Under section 1192.7, subdivision (c)(31), assault with a deadly weapon qualifies as a serious felony and is, in turn, a strike under section 667, subdivisions (d)(1) and (e)(1). (Delgado, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1065.) Assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury is not a serious felony, and, in turn, is not a strike. (Ibid.) Therefore, the application of the prior strike enhancement alleged in the instant information hinged on whether Hudson’s prior conviction under section 245 (a)(1) was for assault with a deadly weapon or assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. A. Descamps v. United States The United States Supreme Court in Descamps v. United States (2013) 570 U.S.

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Related

Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Descamps v. United States
133 S. Ct. 2276 (Supreme Court, 2013)
People v. Delgado
183 P.3d 1226 (California Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. Miles
183 P.3d 1236 (California Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. High
15 Cal. Rptr. 3d 148 (California Court of Appeal, 2004)
People v. McGee
133 P.3d 1054 (California Supreme Court, 2006)
People v. Mitchell
26 P.3d 1040 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Marin
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People v. Rangel
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People v. Navarette
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People v. Gallardo
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Bluebook (online)
People v. Hudson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hudson-calctapp-2018.