People v. Nichols

198 Cal. Rptr. 3d 227, 244 Cal. App. 4th 681, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 80
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 6th District
DecidedFebruary 3, 2016
DocketH041979
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 198 Cal. Rptr. 3d 227 (People v. Nichols) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 6th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Nichols, 198 Cal. Rptr. 3d 227, 244 Cal. App. 4th 681, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 80 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, J.

*685I. INTRODUCTION

In August 2012 defendant Daniel Lawrence Nichols pleaded no contest to the felony offense of buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle with a prior conviction for vehicle theft (Pen.Code, §§ 496d, 666.5 ),1 and admitted the allegation that he had one prior violent or serious felony conviction that also qualified as a strike within the meaning of the Three Strikes law (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12). The trial court imposed a term of four years in the state prison.

In November 2014 defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which the trial court treated as a petition for resentencing under section 1170.18, subdivision (a). Section 1170.18 was enacted by Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (the Act). (Prop. 47, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 4, 2014), effective Nov. 5, 2014.) The trial court denied the petition on the ground that section 1170.18 does not apply to a felony conviction for buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle in violation of *229section 496d and therefore resentencing defendant as a misdemeanant was not authorized by Proposition 47.

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred because section 1170.18 should be construed to apply to a felony conviction for violating section 496d where the value of the stolen motor vehicle was $950 or less. Defendant also contends the trial court's order violates his constitutional right to equal protection. For the reasons stated below, we find no merit in defendant's contentions and therefore we will affirm the order.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 20, 2012, defendant pleaded no contest to the felony offense of buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle with a prior conviction for vehicle theft (§§ 496d, 666.5 ), and admitted the allegation that he had one prior violent or serious felony conviction that also qualified as a strike within the meaning of the Three Strikes law (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12).

Defendant filed a petition in propria persona for a writ of habeas corpus on November 19, 2014, in which he sought to have his sentence reduced pursuant to Proposition 47. The trial court issued an order on November 20, 2014, appointing defense counsel and construing the habeas corpus petition *686as a petition for resentencing under section 1170.18, subdivision (a). The parties filed memoranda of points and authorities regarding the issue of whether section 1170.18 should be construed to authorize resentencing a felony conviction for buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle under section 496d as a misdemeanor where the value of the stolen motor vehicle did not exceed $950. The actual value of the stolen motor vehicle involved in defendant's section 496d conviction was not addressed by the parties.

The trial court denied the petition for resentencing during the hearing held on January 21, 2015. The court reasoned that "the very plain language" of section 1170.18 did not include a violation of section 496d as a felony conviction for which resentencing is authorized.

III. DISCUSSION

Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal from the trial court's January 21, 2015 order. We will begin our evaluation of defendant's contentions of trial court error with a brief summary of the pertinent provisions of Proposition 47.

A. Proposition 47

On November 4, 2014, the voters enacted Proposition 47, which reclassified certain felony drug and theft related offenses as misdemeanors and enacted a new statutory provision, section 1170.18, whereby a person serving a felony sentence for the reclassified offenses may petition for a recall of his or her sentence. (§ 1170.18, subd. (a).)

Section 1170.18 applies to "[a] person currently serving a sentence for a conviction, whether by trial or plea, of a felony or felonies who would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under the act that added this section ('this act') had this act been in effect at the time of the offense." (§ 1170.18, subd. (a).) Under section 1170.18, subdivision (a), such a person "may petition for a recall of sentence before the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction in his or her case to request resentencing in accordance with Sections 11350, 11357, or 11377 of the Health and Safety Code, or Section 459.5, 473, 476a, 490.2, 496, or 666 of the Penal Code, as those sections have been amended or added by this act." Section 1170.18, subdivision (b) specifies the procedure for *230a trial court to follow "[u]pon receiving a petition under subdivision (a)."

The theft related offenses enumerated in section 1170.18, subdivisions (a) and (b) that may be reclassified and resentenced as misdemeanors under Proposition 47 include shoplifting with a value of $950 or less [§ 459.5, subd (a) ]; forgery of a document with a value of $950 or less [

*687§ 473, subd (b) ]; issuing a check for $950 or less without sufficient funds [§ 476a, subd. (b) ]; petty theft with a value of $950 or less [§ 490.2, subd. (a) ]; receiving stolen property with a value of $950 or less [§ 496, subd. (a) ]; and petty theft with a prior theft conviction [§ 666, subd. (a) ]. The offense of buying or receiving a stolen motor vehicle (§ 496d ) is not one of the theft related offenses listed in section 1170.18, subdivisions (a) and (b).

B. Exclusion of Section 496d

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his petition for resentencing under Proposition 47 because section 1170.18 should be construed to apply to a felony conviction for violating section 496d where the value of the stolen motor vehicle was $950 or less. Defendant acknowledges that a felony conviction under section 496d is not one of the theft related offenses included in section 1170.18, subdivisions (a) and (b). He argues, however, that section 1170.18 expressly applies to the "parallel" offenses of vehicle theft (§§ 490.2, subd. (a) ), and receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a) ) where the value of the stolen property is $950 or less, and therefore it is clear that the voters intended that all theft related offenses be treated as misdemeanors where the value of the property is less than $950. Alternatively, defendant contends that any ambiguity in section 1170.18 must be liberally interpreted to effectuate Proposition 47's purpose of "reducing prison spending on non-violent crimes," by treating all property related offenses as misdemeanors where the property has a value of $950 or less.

The People disagree, arguing that defendant is not eligible for resentencing under Proposition 47 because the plain language of Proposition 47 does not include section 496d. The People assert that "[t]he voters did not intend that those convicted of felony buying or receiving a stolen vehicle should have their convictions reduced to a misdemeanor...."

We resolve the issue under of the rules of statutory interpretation, which are applicable to voter initiatives like Proposition 47.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 Cal. Rptr. 3d 227, 244 Cal. App. 4th 681, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-nichols-calctapp6d-2016.