People v. Smith

163 Cal. App. 3d 908, 210 Cal. Rptr. 43, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1546
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 18, 1985
DocketCrim. 13351
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 163 Cal. App. 3d 908 (People v. Smith) 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. Smith, 163 Cal. App. 3d 908, 210 Cal. Rptr. 43, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1546 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

*910 Opinion

ROBIE, J. *

Introduction

A jury found the defendant guilty of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) 1 and burglary (§ 459); the jury also found true a special allegation that defendant was armed with a firearm (§ 12022, subd. (a)) during the commission of the burglary. The jury found that defendant did not use a firearm during the commission of robbery, as alleged. (§ 12022.5.) The court imposed the upper term of five years for robbery. The court also imposed the middle term of two years for burglary and one year for its enhancement, both to run concurrent to the robbery sentence. The aggregate term was five years. The defendant appeals contending: (1) the court erred in failing to grant his motion to suppress certain evidence (§ 1538.5); (2) the evidence is insufficient to support the verdicts; (3) the punishment for being armed with a firearm is barred by section 654; and (4) the court erred in imposing the upper term for robbery. We agree with (3) and shall direct the judgment be modified. As to the other contentions, we disagree and shall affirm.

Testimony at the Suppression Hearing

Evidence Presented at Trial

Jose Hernandez was working as a bartender in Ortega’s Bar in Sacramento during the early morning hours of May 18, 1982. A young Hispanic male and two male Indians entered; the younger individual had a hunting knife. Codefendant Lewis carried a handgun. 2 After the three men entered the defendant demanded money in English and Spanish. Lewis held the gun to the victim’s head and the defendant pointed his gun at a customer’s back. The young man with the knife took about $500 from the register and a bottle of Bacardi rum.

*911 The victim described the defendant as wearing blue clothes, woman’s nylon hose over his face and a blue handkerchief with white specks tied around his head. The victim had seen the defendant and Lewis in the bar the previous evening. When the robbers left, the victim did not hear any cars drive away; the victim then immediately called his employer.

The initial broadcast reporting the robbery, heard by Officer Garner, included a description of the robbers. Garner saw a trio that matched the description broadcast enter the apartment building at 609 14th Street. The youngest of the three was detained and a bottle of rum in his possession was confiscated, three-quarters full. Other officers joined Garner to attempt to locate the suspects. Finally, a number of officers gathered at the door of apartment number 6. After loudly knocking on the door without response, and after hearing scuffling noises inside, the officers kicked in the door.

Inside the apartment officers found the defendant, codefendant Lewis and. a juvenile, as well as a levi jacket, rolled and loose coins, and a clip from a .25 caliber automatic; hanging from the jacket was a woman’s nylon stocking. They also discovered three live .25 caliber cartridges. A .25 caliber automatic handgun was found under a mattress in the bedroom. The victim was brought to the scene and identified Lewis after the search.

The victim identified the automatic pistol used by Lewis, the levi jacket, a roll of coins bearing bank identification, and the nylon stocking found in the apartment with the defendant.

It was stipulated that the fingerprints of the Hispanic juvenile found in the apartment matched those found on the till of Ortega’s Bar.

Discussion

I *

III

The defendant contends that the court violated section 654 5 in imposing a one-year term as an enhancement pursuant to section 12022, sub *912 division (a), for being armed with a firearm during the commission of the burglary. The defendant argues that robbery was the felony upon which the burglary was predicated and that being armed with a firearm is an element of robbery.

We find no merit in the defendant’s argument because we have not the slightest doubt that being armed with a firearm is not an element of robbery. (In re Anthony H. (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d 494, 499 [166 Cal.Rptr. 607].)

However, the Attorney General conceded in oral argument that punishment for both robbery and burglary is inappropriate because “[this] robbery is simply an assaultive version of theft with the same underlying intent. ...” (People v. Prysock (1982) 127 Cal.App.3d 972, 1004 [180 Cal.Rptr. 15].) It is settled law that section 654 bars punishment for both burglary and robbery where the sole purpose of the burglary was to effectuate the robbery. (People v. Jones (1962) 211 Cal.App.2d 63, 73, 74 [27 Cal.Rptr. 429]; Downs v. State of California (1962) 202 Cal.App.2d 609, 614-615 [20 Cal.Rptr. 922]; and see People v. McFarland (1962) 58 Cal.2d 748, 760 [26 Cal.Rptr. 473, 376 P.2d 449].) We believe the facts of the instant case fall squarely within the rule.

Nevertheless, the Attorney General contended in oral argument that the stay to be imposed by application of section 654 should not include the burglary enhancement.

In addressing this contention, we first shall discuss the nature of the enhancement provided in section 12022, subdivision (a). 6 The roots of this statute go back to enactment of the “Deadly Weapons Act.” (Stats. 1923, ch. 339, p. 695.) The original statute provided, in part: “If any person shall commit or attempt to commit any felony within this state while armed with any . . . pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, . . . upon conviction of such felony or of an attempt to commit such felony, he shall in addition to the punishment prescribed for the crime of which he has been convicted, be punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for not less than five nor for more than ten years. Such additional period of imprisonment shall commence upon the expiration or other termination of the sentence imposed for the crime of which he stands convicted and shall not run concurrently with such sentence.”

*913 Our Supreme Court considered this statute in 1944 in In re Shull (23 Cal.2d 745 [146 P.2d 417]). In that case, the court held that the increased punishment (which is now included in § 12022) 7 was not applicable to a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245) where being armed was a “necessary element of the offense.” It reasoned that the assault statute “. . . defines and determines the punishment for a specific kind of a crime, ...

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Bluebook (online)
163 Cal. App. 3d 908, 210 Cal. Rptr. 43, 1985 Cal. App. LEXIS 1546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-smith-calctapp-1985.