People v. Sukovitzen

291 P.2d 107, 138 Cal. App. 2d 159, 1955 Cal. App. LEXIS 1297
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 22, 1955
DocketCrim. 5419
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 291 P.2d 107 (People v. Sukovitzen) 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. Sukovitzen, 291 P.2d 107, 138 Cal. App. 2d 159, 1955 Cal. App. LEXIS 1297 (Cal. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinion

WOOD (Parker), J.

Defendant's notice of appeal states that “he appeals from the findings of the court relative to the little habitual act, which is under Section 644a of the Penal Code.”

The information herein charged that defendant committed robbery in Los Angeles County on November 8, 1954, and at that time he was armed with an automatic pistol. He pleaded guilty. The court determined that it was robbery of the first degree. Defendant denied the allegations of the information that he had been previously convicted of felonies. Trial by jury, as to the issue of prior convictions, was waived.

The court found that it is true, as alleged in the information, *160 that defendant had been previously convicted of felonies, and had served terms therefor in state prisons, as follows: Violation of the Dyer Act—convicted in 1938 in the State of Nevada. Forgery—Convicted in 1940 in San Francisco. Robbery—convicted in March, 1943, in Nevada County, California (the documentary evidence shows that the conviction was in April, 1943). Robbery—convicted in 1944 in Sacramento. Robbery and petty theft with prior conviction of felony—convicted in May, 1943, in San Francisco.

The court also found that defendant had served separate terms for two of the prior robbery convictions. (The court did not specify the two prior convictions so referred to.) Also, the court found and declared that, under section 644, subdivision (a), of the Penal Code defendant was an habitual criminal.

Said section 644, subdivision (a), provides in part as follows: “Every person convicted in this State of the crime of robbery . . . [here several other crimes are designated], who shall have been previously twice convicted upon charges separately brought and tried, and who shall have served separate terms therefor in any state prison . . . either in this State or elsewhere, of the crime of robbery, burglary, burglary with explosives, rape with force or violence, arson, murder, assault with intent to commit murder, grand theft, bribery of a public official, perjury, subornation of perjury, train wrecking, feloniously receiving stolen goods, felonious assault with a deadly weapon, extortion, kidnaping, mayhem, escape from a state prison, rape or fornication or sodomy or carnal abuse of a child under the age of 14 years, or any act punishable under Section 288 of this code, conspiracy to commit any one or more of the aforementioned felonies, shall be adjudged a habitual criminal and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life.”

The question on appeal is whether at the time of pronouncing judgment in the present case the defendant had served two separate terms upon conviction of crimes designated in said section 644, subdivision (a).

Violation of the Dyer Act is not one of the crimes designated in said section, and therefore the term served by defendant upon the prior conviction for that offense is not a separate term within the meaning of said section. (See In re Schunke, 81 Cal.App.2d 588, 589 [184 P.2d 700].) Since forgery is not one of the crimes designated in said section, the term served upon the conviction of forgery is not a separate term *161 within the meaning of said section. Therefore an adjudication that defendant is an habitual criminal must be based upon the prior convictions of robbery.

In 1940 defendant began serving a term in San Quentin prison upon the forgery charge. It appears, from language in judgments hereinafter referred to, that defendant was paroled upon the forgery charge before he was convicted on the robbery charges.

As above shown, in April, 1943, defendant was convicted of robbery committed in Nevada County. Upon that conviction he was sentenced to San Quentin prison—the term to run concurrently with the " unexpired term from prior conviction of felony.” (This quoted language apparently refers to the unexpired term for the forgery conviction.) It appears therefore that the term for the robbery in Nevada County was being served concurrently with the term for forgery. He was received in prison, upon this robbery term, in April. 1943. It does not appear that defendant has completed serving the term for the Nevada County robbery; but it does appear that in 1949 the term for that robbery was set at 50 years. (On October 24, 1954, defendant escaped from Folsom prison; and he committed the robbery charged in this present case on November 8, 1954.)

As above shown, in May, 1943, defendant was convicted in San Francisco of robbery. (Although the allegation in the information herein was that he was convicted of robbery and petty theft with prior conviction of felony, the documentary evidence herein shows that he was also convicted of an additional robbery.) He was sentenced to San Quentin prison— the terms as to the two San Francisco robberies were to run concurrently with each other and consecutively “with the sentence imposed as a parole violator.” (This quoted language apparently refers to violation of parole on the forgery conviction.) It appears therefore that the sentences for the San Francisco robberies, which were to run concurrently with each other, were to run consecutively with the sentence for forgery. ' Since there was no express determination by the San Francisco court as to whether its sentences should run concurrently or consecutively with the prior Nevada sentence, the sentences of the San Francisco court, as a matter of law, run concurrently with the Nevada County sentence. (Pen. Code, § 669.) The sentences for the San Francisco robberies will be referred to hereinafter as the San Francisco term.

In April, 1945, the forgery term ended. Then defendant *162 began serving the San Francisco term, which was to run consecutively with the forgery term and concurrently with the Nevada County term. At that time (April, 1945), when the forgery term had ended and defendant began serving the San Francisco term for robberies, he was still serving the term for the Nevada County robbery which, as above shown, has never been completed. It therefore appears that he was serving the Nevada County term for robbery and the San Francisco term for robberies at the same time. It does not appear that defendant has completed the San Francisco term; but it does appear that in 1949 the San Francisco term was set at 50 years.

As above shown, in 1944, defendant was convicted of robbery in Sacramento. Upon that conviction he was sentenced to San Quentin prison—the term to run “consecutively with the sentence or sentences last to be served under the several judgments of conviction under which the defendant is now detained and imprisoned in the State Prison of the State of California.” Since the term for the Sacramento robbery will not commence until the terms for the Nevada robbery and the San Francisco robberies have been served, it is clear that the term for the Sacramento robbery is not a prior separately served term.

Since the term for the Sacramento robbery must be eliminated from consideration as a separately served term, any adjudication in the present case that defendant is an habitual criminal must be limited to a consideration of the terms for the Nevada County and San Francisco robberies.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Propp
251 Cal. App. 2d 896 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Reed
249 Cal. App. 2d 468 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Shaw
237 Cal. App. 2d 606 (California Court of Appeal, 1965)
People v. Collins
228 Cal. App. 2d 460 (California Court of Appeal, 1964)
People v. Douglas
187 Cal. App. 2d 802 (California Court of Appeal, 1960)
Williams, Standridge & Deaton v. State
313 S.W.2d 242 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1958)
People v. Keller
311 P.2d 14 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
People v. Figuieredo
304 P.2d 161 (California Court of Appeal, 1956)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
291 P.2d 107, 138 Cal. App. 2d 159, 1955 Cal. App. LEXIS 1297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sukovitzen-calctapp-1955.