People v. Oganesyan

83 Cal. Rptr. 2d 157, 70 Cal. App. 4th 1178
California Court of Appeal·Decided March 25, 1999·No. B118676·Published·Cited by 122 cases

Opinion

83 Cal.Rptr.2d 157 (1999)
70 Cal.App.4th 1178

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Karen OGANESYAN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. B118676.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Five.

March 25, 1999.
Review Denied June 15, 1999.[**]

Mark D. Lenenberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, Chatsworth, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Carol Wendelin Pollack, Senior Assistant *158 Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Michael J. Wise, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Certified For Partial Publication.[*]

TURNER, P.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant, Karen Oganesyan, appeals from his convictions for two counts of murder; one count in the first and the other in the second degree. (Pen Code,[1] § 187, subd. (a).) Defendant was found to have personally used a firearm in the commission of both murders. (§ 12022.5, subd. (a).) As to count 2, a multiple murder special circumstances finding was found to be true. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3).) As a result as to count 2, defendant has received a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. He argues: (1) he was denied the right to compulsory process by the prosecutor's delay in revealing the addresses of two material witnesses; (2) the trial court improperly denied his request for special instruction on the burden of proof in a self-defense case; and (3) his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. In the published portion of this opinion, we discuss the argument of the Attorney General that an additional restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.45 must be imposed. We reject the contention of the Attorney General and affirm the judgment with one modification.

II. DISCUSSION

A.-E.[***]

[[/]][***]

As to count 1, defendant has received an indeterminate sentence for second degree murder plus an additional four-year term resulting from a section 12022.5, subdivision (a) finding of firearm use. As to count 2, defendant has also received a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole plus an additional 10-year term for firearm use as a result of his conviction for first degree special circumstances murder. The trial court imposed a $10,000 restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.4, subdivision (b)(1).[2] The Attorney General argues that the trial court had a jurisdictional duty to impose an additional restitution fine pursuant section 1202.45 which provides: "In every case where a person is convicted of a crime and whose sentence includes a period of parole, the court shall at the time of imposing the restitution fine pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1202.4, assess an additional restitution fine in the same amount as that imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1202.4. This additional restitution fine shall be suspended unless the person's parole is revoked." In the present case, the trial judge failed to impose the section 1202.45 additional restitution fine. Defendant does not dispute that if the fine applies to him, the trial court had a jurisdictional obligation to impose the additional section 1202.45 assessment. (Cf. People v. Scott (1994) 9 Cal.4th 331, 354, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 627, 885 P.2d 1040; People v. Welch, supra, 5 Cal.4th at p. 235, 19 Cal.Rptr.2d 520, 851 P.2d 802; People v. Karaman (1992) 4 Cal.4th 335, 345-346, fn. 11, 349, fn. 15, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 801, 842 P.2d 100; In re Ricky H. (1981) 30 Cal.3d 176, 190-192, 178 Cal.Rptr. 324, 636 P.2d 13; People v. Davis (1981) 29 Cal.3d 814, 827 & fn. 5, 176 Cal.Rptr. 521, 633 P.2d 186; People v. Serrato (1973) 9 Cal.3d 753, 763-765, 109 Cal.Rptr. 65, 512 P.2d 289 overruled on another point in People v. Fosselman (1983) 33 Cal.3d 572, 583, fn. 1, 189 Cal.Rptr. 855, 659 P.2d 1144; In re Sandel (1966) 64 Cal.2d 412, 414-418, 50 Cal.Rptr. 462, 412 P.2d 806.) Rather, defendant argues that section *159 1202.45 does not apply to an accused who receives a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. Although the issue is close and subject to conflicting arguments of some substance, we agree with defendant.

This is an issue of statutory interpretation. We apply the following standard of statutory review described by the California Supreme Court: "When interpreting a statute our primary task is to determine the Legislature's intent. [Citation.] In doing so we turn first to the statutory language, since the words the Legislature chose are the best indicators of its intent." (Freedom Newspapers, Inc. v. Orange County Employees Retirement System (1993) 6 Cal.4th 821, 826, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 148, 863 P.2d 218; People v. Jones (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1142, 1146, 22 Cal. Rptr.2d 753, 857 P.2d 1163.) The Supreme Court has emphasized that the words in a statute selected by the Legislature must be given a "commonsense" meaning when it noted: "`Our first step [in determining the Legislature's intent] is to scrutinize the actual words of the statute, giving them a plain and commonsense meaning. (Mercer v. Department of Motor Vehicles (1991) 53 Cal.3d 753, 763, 280 Cal.Rptr. 745, 809 P.2d 404[ ]; Lungren v. Deukmejian (1988) 45 Cal.3d 727, 735, 248 Cal.Rptr. 115, 755 P.2d 299[ ].)' (People v. Valladoli (1996) 13 Cal.4th 590, 597, 54 Cal.Rptr.2d 695, 918 P.2d 999[].)" (California Teachers Assn. v. Governing Bd. of Rialto Unified School Dist. (1997) 14 Cal.4th 627, 633, 59 Cal.Rptr.2d 671, 927 P.2d 1175.) Further, our Supreme Court has noted: "`If the language is clear and unambiguous there is no need for construction, nor is it necessary to resort to indicia of the intent of the Legislature (in the case of a statute)....'" (Delaney v. Superior Court (1990) 50 Cal.3d 785, 798, 268 Cal.Rptr. 753, 789 P.2d 934.) However, the literal meaning of a statute must be in accord with its purpose as the Supreme Court noted in Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries (1993) 6 Cal.4th 644, 658-659, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 109, 863 P.2d 179 as follows: "We are not prohibited `from determining whether the literal meaning of a statute comports with its purpose or whether such a construction of one provision is consistent with other provisions of the statute. The meaning of a statute may not be determined from a single word or sentence; the words must be

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People v. Oganesyan, 83 Cal. Rptr. 2d 157, 70 Cal. App. 4th 1178 (Cal. Ct. App. 1999).

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