People v. Martin CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 12, 2014
DocketC071879
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Martin CA3 (People v. Martin CA3) 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. Martin CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 3/12/14 P. v. Martin CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Trinity) ----

THE PEOPLE, C071879

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 11F0016)

v.

TIMOTHY JAMES MARTIN,

Defendant and Appellant.

In May 2011, defendant Timothy James Martin pled no contest to second degree burglary (Pen. Code, §§ 459, 460, subd. (b);1 count one), unlawful driving of a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a); count two), two counts of knowing receipt of stolen property (§ 496; counts three & four), and misdemeanor possession of an access card

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 with intent to defraud (§ 484e, subd. (c); count five).2 In exchange, two prior prison term allegations (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) were dismissed. The trial court sentenced defendant to a stipulated term of four years four months in prison, consisting of the upper term of three years on count one, plus consecutive terms of eight months each on counts two and three. The court imposed a concurrent sentence on count four, but stayed it pursuant to section 654. On count five, the court sentenced defendant to a consecutive term of 365 days with 144 days of custody credit and 72 days of conduct credit.3 The trial court stayed execution of the prison sentence and placed defendant on probation on the condition that he successfully complete the Teen Challenge program. In January 2012, the probation department filed a petition alleging that defendant violated his probation (VOP) by, inter alia, failing to complete Teen Challenge. At arraignment on the VOP, defendant informed the court that his brother had passed away, and the court ordered defendant to report to the probation department that same day. Defendant failed to report, and the probation department filed another VOP. At a contested hearing, the trial court sustained both petitions. In June 2012, the trial court ordered execution of the prison sentence and awarded defendant 258 days of custody credit and 149 days of conduct credit. Defense counsel requested credit for the time defendant was in Teen Challenge, arguing because defendant was “ordered to” the program by the court, he was entitled to custody credit for the days he spent in the program. The People opposed the request, arguing defendant “didn’t go to [prison]” and “wasn’t in our jail” so he was not in custody. Neither party asked for a hearing on the issue. Without stating its reasons, the

2 The facts of defendant’s crimes are not relevant to this appeal. 3 Defendant also pled no contest to charges pending in other cases.

2 court declined to award defendant custody credit for Teen Challenge, but told defense counsel “if you want to bring it back to court for modification of these orders within time limits, you certainly have the option to do that.” Defendant contends: 1) his one-year sentence on count five must be modified to the statutory maximum of six months; 2) he is entitled to additional custody credit for the time he spent at Teen Challenge; 3) he is entitled to day-for-day conduct credit; and 4) he is entitled to be sentenced to jail rather than prison under the realignment sentencing scheme. We agree with his first contention as well as his third, and shall modify the judgment accordingly; we shall also order a correction to the abstract. DISCUSSION I Modification of Sentence on Count Five Defendant first contends, and the People concede, the trial court erred when it sentenced him to jail for 365 days for fraudulently possessing an access card, a petty theft. We agree with the parties. Defendant pled to misdemeanor possession of an access card with intent to defraud. (§ 484e, subd. (c).) That section categorizes this offense as petty theft. Petty theft is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or both. (§ 490.) Because the sentence of 365 days is unauthorized, we will modify the sentence to the statutory maximum of six months despite the absence of an objection below. (See § 1260.) II Custody and Conduct Credit for Time at Teen Challenge Defendant next contends the trial court erred in failing to award him credit for the time he spent at Teen Challenge. The People respond that although defendant “may” be entitled to credit for actual time he spent in the program, conduct credit is not available

3 for time spent in a rehabilitation facility. In his reply brief, defendant agrees and withdraws his claim for conduct credit. Section 2900.5, subdivision (a) provides in relevant part: “In all felony and misdemeanor convictions, . . . when the defendant has been in custody, including, but not limited to, any time spent in a . . . rehabilitation facility . . . , all days of custody of the defendant, including days served as a condition of probation in compliance with a court order, . . . shall be credited upon his or her term of imprisonment.” Apparently due to information in other parts of the record that suggest the Teen Challenge program, as administered in defendant’s case, might qualify as “custody” such that he would be entitled to credit under section 2900.5, the People decline to take a firm position on the issue. Instead, they repeatedly assert that defendant “may” qualify for credit. The People add that it “appears [defendant] was subjected to significant restriction and supervision.” But whether that program was sufficiently restrictive, as administered in defendant’s case, is a factual determination that was neither sought nor made in the trial court. (See People v. Ambrose (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1917, 1922 [“The question of whether a particular facility should be considered sufficiently restrictive as to amount to custody constitutes a factual question”].) Here, the trial court ruled against defendant but told counsel to “bring it back to court for modification” if needed, which the record does not reflect was done. We simply do not know the details of defendant’s confinement while at Teen Challenge. We know that it ended when he absconded from the program while out on a validly-issued pass. Thus the record is devoid of sufficient evidence that defendant’s time in the program was indeed “custodial” to cause us to conclude the trial court erred in ruling to the contrary.

4 III Conduct Credit Pursuant to Amended Section 4019 Defendant next contends the trial court erred in failing to award him day-for-day conduct credit for his 258 days of actual custody. We agree, but point out that defendant’s entitlement to day-for-day credit stems not from section 4019, as he argues, but from former section 2933, as we explain immediately post. Under the Bobb-Smith “two-for-four” formula described by this court, section 4019 previously provided that for every four-day period a defendant served, he would be deemed to have served a six-day period, and therefore would be entitled to two days of conduct credit. (See People v. Bobb (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 88, 97-98; People v. Smith (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 523, 527; Stats. 1982, ch. 1234, § 7, p. 4554.) Senate Bill No. 18 amended section 4019, effective January 25, 2010, to enhance the number of presentence conduct credits for certain offenders. (Stats. 2009-2010, 3d Ex. Sess., ch. 28, § 50.) Under that bill, most defendants--other than registered sex offenders, or those who committed or had prior convictions for serious or violent felonies--accrued “two-for-two” credits, two days of conduct credit for every two days of actual custody. (See People v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Brown
278 P.3d 1182 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
The People v. Wilcox
217 Cal. App. 4th 618 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)
People v. Smith
211 Cal. App. 3d 523 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
People v. Bobb
207 Cal. App. 3d 88 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
People v. Zackery
54 Cal. Rptr. 3d 198 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
People v. Ambrose
7 Cal. App. 4th 1917 (California Court of Appeal, 1992)
People v. Mitchell
26 P.3d 1040 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Garcia
209 Cal. App. 4th 530 (California Court of Appeal, 2012)
People v. Clytus
209 Cal. App. 4th 1001 (California Court of Appeal, 2012)
People v. Hul
213 Cal. App. 4th 182 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Martin CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-martin-ca3-calctapp-2014.