People v. Travis

44 Cal. Rptr. 3d 177, 139 Cal. App. 4th 1271
California Court of Appeal·Decided May 26, 2006·No. A109342·Published·Cited by 38 cases

Opinion

44 Cal.Rptr.3d 177 (2006)
139 Cal.App.4th 1271

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Antwan TRAVIS, Defendant and Appellant.

No. A109342.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division One.

May 26, 2006.

*181 Richard C. Neuhoff, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Gerald A. Engler, Assistant Attorneys General, Enid A. Camps, Michael Chamberlain, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

SWAGER, J.

In this appeal from a judgment of conviction following a guilty plea defendant challenges the constitutionality of the most recent amendment of the California DNA sample collection law, Penal Code section *182 296.1, upon which the trial court relied to impose an order for DNA testing upon him. We conclude that the statute does not offend constitutional principles, and affirm the judgment.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY[1]

Defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of felony driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh.Code, § 23152, subd. (a)), and admitted that he suffered two prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol within the past 10 years (Veh.Code, § 23550.5).[2] He was sentenced to a state prison term of 16 months, to run concurrently with a six-year sentence imposed in a separate Contra Costa County Superior Court action. Over objection by the defense, the trial court also ordered defendant to "submit to DNA testing" and provide print impressions pursuant to Penal Code section 296, subdivision (a)(1).[3]

DISCUSSION

Defendant challenges the constitutionality of section 296, subdivision (a)(1), which specifies that a DNA sample and print impressions must be provided for collection and storage in a state database by, "Any person, including any juvenile, who is convicted of or pleads guilty or no contest to any felony offense, or is found not guilty by reason of insanity of any felony offense, or any juvenile who is adjudicated under Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code for committing any felony offense."[4] (Italics added.) Section 296 in its present form was enacted as part of the 2004 DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act (Prop.69). (§ 295, subd. (a).) Section 296 and the remainder of the DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Act govern the collection of DNA samples and specimens from persons convicted of all felonies, rather than only enumerated crimes as provided under the former statute. (Coffey v. Superior Court (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 809, 814, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 59.) The California Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for implementing the act (§ 295, subd. (h)), the DNA Laboratory, Department of Corrections, Board of Corrections, and Department of the Youth Authority, has the authority to adopt policies and enact regulations for the implementation of the act (§ 295, subds. (h)(1), (i)(1)), and the county sheriffs or chief administrative officers at jails or other county facilities have responsibility for collection of samples in accordance with approved procedures. (§ 295, subd. (i)(1), (2); People v. Dial (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 657, 661, 30 Cal.Rptr.3d 252.) The DOJ then serves as a repository for the collected *183 samples, performs a DNA analysis, and maintains the DNA profiles for comparison to samples taken at other crime scenes, in order to establish the identity and origin of those crime scene samples. (§§ 295.1, subds.(a), (c), 297, subd. (a); Coffey v. Superior Court, supra, at p. 814, 29 Cal. Rptr.3d 59.) The provisions of the act are mandatory and automatic upon conviction of a felony. (People v. Brewer (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 1298, 1302, 105 Cal.Rptr.2d 293; People v. Hong (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1071, 1083, 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 23.) The persons specified in the act—that is, anyone convicted of any felony offense—"shall" provide samples, "and the requirements of the chapter (Pen.Code, pt. 1, tit. 9, ch. 6; §§ 295-300.3) `shall apply to all qualifying persons regardless of sentence imposed ... or any other disposition rendered in the case of an adult ..., or whether the person is diverted, fined, or referred for evaluation....' (§ 296, subd. (b).)" (People v. Dial, supra, at p. 662, 30 Cal.Rptr.3d 252.)

The trial court acted under the authority of the current version of section 296, subdivision (a)(1), by ordering defendant to submit a DNA sample as a result of his felony conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol. In this appeal, defendant presents several constitutional objections to the forced extraction and collection of DNA samples from all felony offenders: that the intrusion upon his privacy rights violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures; that his equal protection rights were violated; that the statute is overbroad and offends due process principles; and, that as applied to him the statute constitutes an ex post facto law. He requests that we modify his sentence to "exclude the mandatory sampling required by section 296," and "if [the] samples have already been taken," to order the samples "removed from any data bank and destroyed."

I. The Claim of Mootness.

Before we proceed to the substance of the constitutional claims presented by defendant, we deal with respondent's contention, made almost in passing, that defendant's appeal is "moot because he is independently required to provide a DNA sample based on his prior felony convictions" pursuant to section 296.1, subdivision (a)(2)(A)(i).[5] Respondent's position seems to be that the availability of a basis *184 for requiring a DNA sample from defendant other than merely his present driving under the influence conviction renders his challenge to the trial court's order moot.

We do not find the present appeal moot. "`As a general rule, "an appeal presenting only abstract or academic questions is subject to dismissal as moot." [Citation.]' [Citation.]" (In re Joshua C. (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1544, 1547, 30 Cal. Rptr.2d 10.) "`When no effective relief can be granted, an appeal is moot and will be dismissed.' [Citations.]" (MHC Operating Limited Partnership v. City of San Jose (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 204, 214, 130 Cal.Rptr.2d 564; see also Lester v. Lennane (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 536, 566, 101 Cal.Rptr.2d 86.) "`"It necessarily follows that when, pending an appeal from the judgment of a lower court, and without any fault of the defendant, an event occurs which renders it impossible for this court, if it should decide the case in favor of plaintiff, to grant him any effectual relief whatever, the court will not proceed to a formal judgment, but will dismiss the appeal."' [Citations.]" (Chantiles v. Lake Forest II Master Homeowners Assn. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 914, 921, 45 Cal. Rptr.2d 1; see also People v. DeLong (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 482, 486, 124 Cal. Rptr.2d 293; In re Joel H. (1993) 19 Cal. App.4th 1185, 1193, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 878.) Although defendant may qualify for DNA testing under section 296.1 based upon his prior felony convictions for driving under the influence, in addition to the conviction obtained in the present case, we are not prevented from rendering effective relief if the statute is found unconstitutional. Defendant has challenged the constitutionality of section 296 in its entirety, and specifically t

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People v. Travis, 44 Cal. Rptr. 3d 177, 139 Cal. App. 4th 1271 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006).

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