Porter v. Superior Court

56 Cal. Rptr. 3d 240, 148 Cal. App. 4th 889
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 20, 2007
DocketH029884
StatusPublished

This text of 56 Cal. Rptr. 3d 240 (Porter v. Superior Court) 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
Porter v. Superior Court, 56 Cal. Rptr. 3d 240, 148 Cal. App. 4th 889 (Cal. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

56 Cal.Rptr.3d 240 (2007)
148 Cal.App.4th 889

Anthony PORTER, Petitioner,
v.
The SUPERIOR COURT of Monterey County, Respondent, The People, Real Party in Interest.

No. H029884.

Court of Appeal of California, Sixth District.

March 20, 2007.

*242 Glenn A Nolte, Public Defender, and Romano Clark, Deputy Public Defender, for Petitioner.

No Appearance for Respondent.

Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Sr. Assistant Attorney General, Seth K. Schalit and William Kuimelis, Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party In Interest.

*241 ELIA, J.

Petitioner Anthony Porter, the criminal defendant in the underlying prosecution for attempted murder and other felonies arising from a drive-by shooting, filed a petition for writ of mandate to compel respondent superior court to vacate its order denying petitioner's motion to dismiss this action on double jeopardy grounds and to enter a different order granting the motion or for a writ of mandate *243 granting other appropriate relief. Petitioner Porter seeks to avoid further trial on the premeditation and gang enhancement allegations. We issued an order to show cause. The People, the real party in interest, filed a return.

The question before us is whether the prosecution may retry premeditation allegations and gang enhancement allegations on which the trial court granted a new trial after the jury had convicted petitioner as charged. Petitioner argues that double jeopardy bars further trial and Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 precludes trial on only discrete elements of greater offenses.

We take judicial notice of relevant court records. (Evid.Code, § 452, subd. (d).) In the underlying case, the jury specifically found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder (counts one and two) (Pen.Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 664)[1] and it found that the attempted murders were willful, deliberate, and premeditated (§ 664, subd. (a)), found petitioner had personally and intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of those attempted murders (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)), and found the gang enhancements true as to both counts (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). The jury also found petitioner guilty of shooting at an inhabited dwelling (§ 246) (count three), two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm (§ 245, subd. (b)) (counts four and five), carrying a loaded firearm while not the registered owner (§ 12031, subd. (a)(2)(F)) (count six), and shooting from a motor vehicle at a person (§ 12034, subd. (c)) (count seven). It found the gang enhancement (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)) alleged as to each of these five offenses also to be true. In addition, the jury found true as to counts four and five that petitioner personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)).

After granting a new trial on the premeditation and gang enhancement allegations, the trial court announced that the People would be permitted to set a new trial date on those enhancements. It then sentenced petitioner and entered a judgment of conviction on the remaining guilty verdicts and true findings. Petitioner subsequently filed pleas of former judgment of conviction and once in jeopardy and sought to demur and asked the court to dismiss the action. The court rejected petitioner's arguments and agreed that a trial on the allegations should be set. This court stayed the criminal trial until further order of this court.

A. Federal Constitution's Double Jeopardy Clause

The People assert that the double jeopardy clause does not bar retrial of the premeditation and gang enhancement allegations because the trial court's grant of a new trial was not an implied acquittal and petitioner Porter waived any double jeopardy claim by requesting a new trial. As we will discuss, we agree that the trial court's order granting a new trial was not an implied acquittal. The People, however, address only one of the three protections encompassed by the double jeopardy clause.

The Fifth Amendment provides: "No person shall ... be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb..." This protection is enforceable against the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. (Benton v. Maryland (1969) 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707.) The federal constitutional protection against double jeopardy "affords a defendant three basic protections: *244 `"[It] protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. And it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense."` Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 165, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 2225, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977), quoting North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2076, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969)." (Ohio v. Johnson (1984) 467 U.S. 493, 498, 104 S.Ct. 2536, 81 L.Ed.2d 425.)

1. Acquittal

A jury's verdict of acquittal, no matter how erroneous, is accorded absolute finality. (See Burks v. U.S. (1978) 437 U.S. 1,16, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1; see also Dowling v. U.S. (1990) 493 U.S. 342, 355, 110 S.Ct. 668, 107 L.Ed.2d 708; Bullington v. Missouri (1981) 451 U.S. 430, 445, 101 S.Ct. 1852, 68 L.Ed.2d 270.) "[T]he law attaches particular significance to an acquittal. To permit a second trial after an acquittal, however mistaken the acquittal may have been, would present an unacceptably high risk that the Government, with its vastly superior resources, might wear down the defendant so that 'even though innocent, he may be found guilty.' Green, 355 U.S., at 188, 78 S.Ct., at 223." (U.S: v. Scott (1978) 437 U.S. 82, 91, 98 S.Ct. 2187, 57 L.Ed.2d 65.) "[A] verdict of acquittal, although not followed by any judgment, is a bar to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense. [Citations.]" (Ball v. U.S. (1896) 163 U.S. 662, 671, 16 S.Ct. 1192, 41 L.Ed. 300.) "[T]he Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits reexamination of a court-decreed acquittal to the same extent it prohibits reexamination of an acquittal by jury verdict. See Richardson v. United States, 468 U.S. 317, 325, n. 5, 104 S.Ct. 3081, 82 L.Ed.2d 242 (1984); Sanabria v. United States, 437 U.S. 54, 64, n. 18, 98 S.Ct. 2170, 57 L.Ed.2d 43 (1978); United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 573, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977); United States v. Sisson, 399 U.S. 267, 290, 90 S.Ct. 2117, 26 L.Ed.2d 608 (1970)." (Smith v. Massachusetts (2005) 543 U.S. at pp. 462, 467, 125 S.Ct. 1129,160 L.Ed.2d 914.)

Petitioner argues that the trial court's grant of his motion for a new trial was tantamount to an acquittal and the prohibition against double jeopardy absolutely bars further prosecution. We reach a contrary conclusion.

Under California law, a trial court reviewing a motion for a new trial is "guided by a presumption in favor of the correctness of the verdict and proceedings supporting it. (People v. Martin (1970) 2 Cal.3d 822, 832[, 87 Cal.Rptr.

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56 Cal. Rptr. 3d 240, 148 Cal. App. 4th 889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/porter-v-superior-court-calctapp-2007.