People v. Peace

107 Cal. App. 3d 996, 166 Cal. Rptr. 202, 1980 Cal. App. LEXIS 2022
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 16, 1980
DocketCrim. 19276
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 107 Cal. App. 3d 996 (People v. Peace) 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. Peace, 107 Cal. App. 3d 996, 166 Cal. Rptr. 202, 1980 Cal. App. LEXIS 2022 (Cal. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

Opinion

WHITE, P. J.

Appellant appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court of San Francisco County entered after the court found him guilty of a violation of Penal Code section 211 (robbery) and found true the allegation contained in the information that he had inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim who was 60 years of age or older. (Pen. Code, § 1203.09.) Appellant contends on appeal that (1) the trial court in sentencing appellant disregarded the fact that appellant was mentally disturbed; (2) the trial court erred in failing to state its reasons for enhancing his sentence because he had suffered a prior conviction; (3) Penal Code section 1203.09 is unconstitutional; (4) the waiver of a jury trial was invalid; and (5) he is entitled to work time/good time credit.

*1000 At approximately 10 a.m. on October 28, 1978, Ms. Doris Peters, then 67 years of age, was returning to her home at 52 Waterville Street in San Francisco from the grocery store. As Ms. Peters approached her house, someone came up behind her and grabbed her purse. The bag of groceries she was carrying fell to the sidewalk. Ms. Peters lost her balance and fell to the ground. Ms. Peters was dragged five or six feet when the purse snatcher attempted to run with the purse while the purse strap was still around her wrist. The attacker fled and Ms. Peters remained on the sidewalk with her purse underneath her. Several minutes later the man returned, pulled the purse from underneath Ms. Peters and fled. The purse contained approximately $60 in cash plus Ms. Peters’ credit cards. As a result of the attack, Ms. Peters sustained a broken arm and a bruised pelvis. Ms. Peters testified at trial that appellant resembled her attacker.

Ms. Alma Toso testified that she was inside her house on the morning of October 28, 1978, when she heard a scream. She looked outside her window and observed her neighbor, Ms. Peters, being attacked. Ms. Toso immediately called the police and then went outside to help Ms. Peters. Ms. Toso testified that appellant resembled the attacker, but she could not make a positive identification.

San Francisco Police Officer Donald Sloan testified that on the date in question he and his partner responded to a radio report of a purse snatch at Waterville and Silver Streets. When they arrived at the intersection, they initially saw no one resembling either a suspect or a victim. Thereafter they spotted appellant running several blocks away. The officers stopped appellant and found he was clutching about $60 in his hands.

Sentencing

Appellant contends that although the trial judge was repeatedly alerted to the fact appellant was mentally disturbed, he appeared to pay absolutely no attention to that fact at the time of sentencing. Appellant asserts that the trial judge should have obtained a psychiatric report of appellant’s condition at the time of the crime and at the time of sentencing. (Pen. Code, § 1203.03.) Appellant further asserts that the trial judge “refused even to discuss defense counsel’s request that he recommend to the Department of Corrections that appellant be placed in a psychiatric facility.” Appellant therefore urges that the judge failed to *1001 exercise a “sound discretion” and the sentence was not lawfully imposed.

The probation report which the trial judge read and considered contains a good deal of information on appellant’s mental condition. The probation officer stated that when she interviewed appellant, he “was quite disoriented and only made a rambling verbal statement.” The probation officer had contact with Dr. Bronstein, a psychiatrist for the California Department of Corrections, who had been seeing appellant on an outpatient basis. Dr. Bronstein described appellant “as being an extremely erratic individual who did have passive aggressive tendencies.” Dr. Bronstein also indicated that appellant had repressed hostility. Dr. Bronstein stated that appellant had been hospitalized on several occasions. Dr. Bronstein further stated that appellant was impossible to manage on an outpatient basis and that appellant was “not cooperating with psychiatric treatment.” Appellant’s parole officer described appellant “as being very disoriented and sick.” The only factor the probation officer listed as a circumstance in mitigation was that appellant “is suffering from a mental condition that significantly reduces his culpability for the crime.”

Defense counsel did not request that the trial judge obtain a psychiatric report before sentencing appellant. At the sentencing hearing defense counsel stated that appellant “is a rather disturbed man” and asked the trial judge to recommend that appellant be placed in a psychiatric facility within the Department of Corrections.

Penal Code section 1203.03 provides that the trial court may order a defendant placed in a diagnostic facility for up to 90 days. Such placement is warranted where the court concludes a diagnostic study is essential to a just disposition of the case. (People v. Harris (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 76, 85 [140 Cal.Rptr. 697].) In the instant case the trial judge had before him a great deal of information on appellant’s mental condition. Given this fact, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in not obtaining another psychiatric report. (Id.; People v. Nelson (1967) 257 Cal.App.2d 282, 285-286 [64 Cal.Rptr. 801].)

We must assume that the trial judge properly considered all the information before him. (Evid. Code, § 664.) The fact that the trial judge used his discretion in a manner different from that requested or suggested by appellant, does not mean that the trial judge abused his discretion. “The trial court abuses its discretion in ruling on a particular *1002 matter only where such ruling exceeds the bounds of reason.” (People v. Harris, supra, 73 Cal.App.3d 76, 85.) Appellant has failed to show that the trial court abused its discretion in the instant case.

Statement of Reasons

The trial court found the allegation with respect to appellant’s prior conviction to be true and imposed the compulsory one-year enhancement pursuant to Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b). Appellant points out that Penal Code section 1170.1, subdivision (g) empowers the trial court to strike such additional punishment “‘if it determines that there are circumstances in mitigation of the additional punishment,”’ and states on the record its reasons for striking the additional punishment. Appellant argues that the trial court must state its reasons for not striking the additional punishment.

A similar contention was rejected in People v. Dixie (1979) 98 Cal.App.3d 852, 857 [159 Cal.Rptr. 717]. In Dixie, the court held that in imposing the compulsory enhancement for firearm use (Pen. Code, § 12022.5), the trial court did not err by failing to state its reason for imposing the enhancement. Penal Code section 1170.1, subdivision (g) also empowers the trial court to strike the additional punishment provided in Penal Code section 12022.5. In Dixie,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 Cal. App. 3d 996, 166 Cal. Rptr. 202, 1980 Cal. App. LEXIS 2022, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-peace-calctapp-1980.