People v. Newman

981 P.2d 98, 87 Cal. Rptr. 2d 474, 21 Cal. 4th 413, 99 Daily Journal DAR 8383, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6603, 1999 Cal. LEXIS 5307
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 16, 1999
DocketS072560
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 981 P.2d 98 (People v. Newman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Newman, 981 P.2d 98, 87 Cal. Rptr. 2d 474, 21 Cal. 4th 413, 99 Daily Journal DAR 8383, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6603, 1999 Cal. LEXIS 5307 (Cal. 1999).

Opinion

87 Cal.Rptr.2d 474 (1999)
981 P.2d 98
21 Cal.4th 413

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
William NEWMAN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S072560.

Supreme Court of California.

August 16, 1999.

*475 Tracy J. Dressner, La Crescenta, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren and Bill Lockyer, Attorneys General, George Williamson and David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Carol Wendelin Pollack, Assistant Attorney General, John R. Gorey, Susan D. Martynec and Russell A. Lehman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

GEORGE, C.J.

This case presents the question whether, in a prosecution for possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen.Code, § 12021, subd. (a)), a defendant must be advised of and waive certain rights set forth in Boykin v. Alabama (1969) 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274, In re Tahl (1969) 1 Cal.3d 122, 81 Cal.Rptr. 577, 460 P.2d 449, and In re Yurko (1974) 10 Cal.3d 857, 112 Cal. Rptr. 513, 519 P.2d 561 (hereafter frequently referred to as Boykin-Tahl advisements) prior to stipulating to his or her status as a felon.[1] The issue has spawned conflicting pronouncements from this court (compare People v. Adams (1993) 6 Cal.4th 570, 581, 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 831, 862 P.2d 831 (Adams), and People v. Hall (1980) 28 Cal.3d 143, 157, fn. 9, 167 Cal.Rptr. 844, 616 P.2d 826 (Hall) and from the Courts of Appeal (compare People v. Robertson (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 835, 840-842, 14 Cal. Rptr.2d 572 (Robertson), People v. Turner (1983) 145 Cal.App.3d 658, 670-671, 193 Cal.Rptr., 614 (Turner), disapproved on another point in People v. Majors (1998) 18 Cal.4th 385, 411, 75 Cal.Rptr.2d 684, 956 P.2d 1137, and People v. Fisk (1975) 50 Cal.App.3d 364, 371, 123 Cal.Rptr. 414). We granted the People's petition for review to resolve the conflict in these holdings.

For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the question whether a defendant must be given the Boykin-Tahl advisements prior to stipulating to his or her status as a felon is controlled by the reasoning of this court's decision in Adams, supra, 6 Cal.4th 570, 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 831, 862 P.2d 831, holding that a defendant validly may "stipulate to one or more, but not all, of the evidentiary facts necessary to a conviction of an offense or ... an enhancement," without first having received such advisements. (Id., at p. 581, 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 831, 862 P.2d 831.) We therefore overrule the contrary statements in Hall, disapprove the Court of Appeal decisions in Robertson and Turner, reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the present case, and remand this matter to the Court of Appeal for consideration of defendant's other claims of error.

I

On February 7, 1997, as Los Angeles Police Officers Michael Lange and Isaac Galloway watched from an unmarked police vehicle, defendant rode his bicycle in a manner that caused a motor vehicle to veer over the center line in order to avoid hitting him. Galloway thereafter activated a hand-held red light and, using the car's public address system, Lange told defendant to "Stop your bike, get off it, put your hands behind your head." Defendant looked at the officers and kept going. Lange repeated the command. The front tire of the bicycle struck a curb, causing defendant to fall off his bicycle. As he fell, defendant dropped a .22-caliber blue steel revolver. It was fully loaded with six rounds. Lange recovered the revolver, as well as nine .22-caliber bullets strewn around defendant.

Defendant had suffered numerous prior felony convictions, including a 1974 conviction for second degree murder. The prosecutor charged defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 12021, *476 subd. (a)(1)).[2] For purposes of sentence enhancement, the prosecutor also charged defendant with having been convicted of six prior violent or serious felonies.

At defendant's request, his trial was bifurcated. During the first phase of the trial proceedings — after the prosecution had presented evidence of the police officers' discovery of the firearm — defendant stipulated through his counsel, in front of the jury, to having been previously convicted of an unspecified felony. The stipulation occurred through the following colloquy:

"The Prosecutor: [Defense counsel], does the defense stipulate in this case that the defendant, Mr. Newman, has been previously convicted of a felony[?]

"Defense Counsel: So stipulated.

"The Court: Ladies and gentlemen, that stipulation is received into evidence by the court."

In accepting the stipulation, the trial court did not advise defendant of any rights or obtain any waivers. It is the trial court's failure to provide advisements or obtain a waiver at this stage of the proceeding that forms the basis for defendant's claim of error.

After both the prosecution and the defense rested at the initial phase of the trial, the trial court instructed the jury: "In this case, the previous felony conviction has already been established by stipulation[,] so no further proof of that fact is required. You must accept as true the existence of this previous felony conviction. [¶] In order to prove [the] crime [of which defendant is charged], each of the following elements must be proved: ... [¶] The person previously convicted of a felony had in his possession or under his control a firearm. And two, the defendant had knowledge of the presence of said firearm."

After deliberations, the jury found defendant guilty of the charged offense of violating section 12021.

Following the jury's guilty verdict on the substantive offense, defendant entered into a plea agreement in which he waived his right to a jury trial on the prior conviction allegations, and admitted as true the allegations that he had suffered six serious or violent felony convictions within the meaning of the "Three Strikes" law, in exchange for which the prosecution agreed not to request five 1-year enhancements (§ 667.5, subd. (b)), and not to seek any additional time beyond a sentence of twenty-five years to life. (§§ 667, subds.(b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d).) The trial court stayed the enhancements and sentenced defendant to a prison term of 25 years to life. This second phase of the trial proceedings is not at issue here,

Defendant appealed. The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment and remanded the matter for a new trial, based on its conclusion that defendant's stipulation to his status as a felon was invalid because the trial court had not given defendant the Boykin-Tahl advisements and had not obtained, prior to accepting the stipulation, a waiver of the rights set forth in those decisions. We granted the People's petition for review.

II

As noted, defendant stipulated to his status as a felon for purposes of the charge that he violated section 12021, subdivision (a), by being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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981 P.2d 98, 87 Cal. Rptr. 2d 474, 21 Cal. 4th 413, 99 Daily Journal DAR 8383, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6603, 1999 Cal. LEXIS 5307, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-newman-cal-1999.