People v. Mitchell
People v. Mitchell
Opinion of the Court
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 302 OPINION
Following a jury trial defendant Corwin Mitchell was found guilty of assault upon a police officer (count I, Pen. Code, §
At all relevant times to this proceeding,4 section 4532, subdivision (b) provided that the punishment for an escape from lawful custody by force or violence was two, four or six years "to be served consecutively." The statute did not set forth a method for calculating consecutive terms and the parties do not contend otherwise. The answer lies elsewhere: somewhere in section 1170.1.
Subdivision (a) of section 1170.1 provides that "Except as provided in subdivision (c) . . . [t]he subordinate term for each consecutive offense which is not a `violent felony' . . . shall consist of one-third of the middle term of imprisonment. . . ." The stated exception, subdivision (c), provides in part that: "In the case of any person convicted of one or more felonies committed while the person is confined in a state prison, or is subject to reimprisonment for escape from such custody and the law either requires the terms to be served consecutively or the court imposes consecutive terms, the term of imprisonment for all the convictions which the person is required to serve consecutively shall commence from the time such person would otherwise have been released from prison." (Italics added.)
(2) Thus it is clear that where a defendant escapes from state prison, section 1170.1, subdivision (c), requires the trial court to impose a full and *Page 304
separate consecutive sentence for the crime. (See People v.Galliher (1981)
So far, the parties are in agreement. In order to understand why they differ on selecting the subdivision which governs this case, reference must be made to the underlying facts.
Defendant's attempt to escape occurred on February 7, 1985, following a hearing in the Alameda County Superior Court concerning 10 armed robberies, a burglary and a false imprisonment he committed in February of 1984.5 When defendant committed these crimes, he was on parole from state prison; in fact he had been on parole since August 22, 1983. According to the prosecutor's statement at the sentencing hearing, at the time of the attempted escape, defendant "had been sentenced under his Morrissey[6] hearing and was under a parole violation jail time." There is no competent evidence in the record, however, to show that the Morrissey hearing had in fact occurred.
(1b) Because defendant was on parole at the time of his attempted escape and perhaps that parole had been revoked, the Attorney General argues that defendant was constructively "`confined in state prison,'" and therefore could be subjected to a full consecutive sentence under section 1170.1, subdivision (c). That argument might have merit if those allegations had been the basis for charging and convicting defendant of attempted escape from state prison, in violation of section 4530. Here, however, the crime charged and for which defendant was convicted was escape from local custody under section 4532, subdivision (b). (3a) The question thus *Page 305 becomes whether defendant's sentence for the crime of escape from local confinement can be enhanced on a factual predicate — confinement in state prison — which was neither pleaded nor proven to the jury. We hold it cannot.
This is not the first case to examine such an issue. Thus inPeople v. Jackson (1985)
Because a full consecutive sentence is an enhancement, (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 405(c)) the court in People v. Logsdon
(1987)
In Logsdon, the defendant escaped from Deuel Vocational Institute and committed a robbery. The prosecution sought a full consecutive sentence under section 1170.1, subdivision (c), contending that the defendant had committed the new felony while "`subject to reimprisonment for escape'" from state prison. TheLogsdon court answered: "Thus, when there is a possibility that full consecutive sentences may ultimately be imposed under section 1170.1, subdivision (c), the prosecution must plead and prove an allegation that the defendant was `subject to reimprisonment for escape' at the time he committed the felony in question and defendant must be afforded the opportunity to respond to and disprove such allegation, if possible. In a jury trial, the jury should be so instructed and the findings must be sufficiently specific to insure the certainty that the jury has reached a verdict which necessarily supports the imposition of full term, consecutive sentences on the basis the defendant was `subject to reimprisonment for escape' from state prison. [Citation.]" (At p. 344.)
The Logsdon rationale applies with equal force to the situation at hand, i.e., where the defendant is charged and convicted of escape from local custody but the prosecution seeks imposition of a full consecutive sentence because the defendant committed that crime "while confined in a state prison." Fundamental principles of due process require that where the *Page 306 prosecution seeks to rely on the defendant's status as a state prison inmate rather than as a local inmate, the defendant must be given notice of that fact and he must be given an opportunity to respond. Further the prosecution must prove and the jury must find that allegation to be true beyond a reasonable doubt. To hold otherwise would transfer from the jury to the trial court the power to find the essential factual predicates for imposition of a full consecutive sentence and would alter the burden of proof from beyond a reasonable doubt to a preponderance of the evidence.
(4a) There is, of course, nothing unusual or startling about the Logsdon rationale and holding. It is fully consistent with the approach utilized for full consecutive sentences for certain sexual offenses under the scheme of section 667.6, subdivision (c). Where the consecutive term is predicated on facts not identical to the charged crime, the factual allegations necessary to invoke section 677.6 must be pleaded and proved. (People v.Riffey (1985)
(3b) (See fn. 7.) For these reasons, we follow Logsdon and hold that in the absence of compliance with the fundamental requirements of due process, e.g., notice and an opportunity to be heard, the trial court could not sentence defendant to a consecutive term under section 1170.1, subdivision (c). (1c),(4b) We therefore conclude that the trial court erred in utilizing that provision when imposing a full consecutive term for defendant's present crime.7 (5) This result compels the conclusion that the additional term for the gun possession enhancement must be stricken; a subordinate term for the *Page 307 consecutive offense excludes enhancements. (§ 1170.1, subd. (a);People v. Masten, supra, 137 Cal.App.3d at pp. 590-591.)8
The judgment is modified by: (a) striking all reference to the term of "6" years for escape with force and substituting therefor the term of one year and four months (one-third of the middle term of four years); and (b) striking all reference to the term of one year under section 12022, subdivision (a). The Clerk of the Alameda County Superior Court is directed to prepare and file a corrected abstract of judgment reflecting these modifications and to forward a certified copy thereof to the Department of Corrections. In all other respects the judgment is affirmed.
Channell, J. concurred.
The information further charged that defendant had numerous prior convictions. Prior to trial defendant admitted 21 of them. He received a one-year enhancement as one prior came within the provisions of section 667.5, subdivision (b).
As amended in 1985, subdivision (b) of section 4532 now provides in pertinent part: "Every prisoner . . . who is confined in any county or city jail . . . or who is in the lawful custody of any officer or person . . . who escapes or attempts to escape . . . is guilty of a felony and, . . . provided, that if such escape or attempt to escape is by force or violence, such person is guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a full term of two, four, or six years to be consecutive to any other term of imprisonment, commencing from the time the person would otherwise have been released from imprisonment and the term shall not be subject to reduction pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1170.1, . . ." (See Stats. 1985, ch. 915, § 1.)
[*] Reporter's Note: Opinion (A033479) deleted upon direction of the Supreme Court by order dated June 9, 1988.
Dissenting Opinion
I respectfully dissent. Today we decide whether the People, in charging a violation of Penal Code1 section 4532, subdivision (b) (attempted escape from the custody of the sheriff of Alameda County), were also required to plead and prove that defendant wasconstructively "confined in state prison" at the time he attempted to escape in order for section 1170.1, subdivision (c) to be applied. I would hold that neither the statutory scheme nor due process mandate such pleading and proof at trial before a court may compute the length of a consecutive sentence pursuant to section 1170.1, subdivision (c), as an offense committed while defendant was "confined in state prison." In my view, defendant was properly sentenced.
A. Defendant's Offense Was Not an Attempted Escape From a"Local Facility."
For the majority to begin their analysis by concluding that defendant was charged with attempted escape from a "local facility" is to begin the journey by boarding the wrong train. Presumably this misimpression has been drawn from the information which charged a violation of section 4532 subdivision (b) by alleging "defendant having been arrested and booked and *Page 308 charged with a felony and in lawful custody of the sheriff ofAlameda County" did attempt to escape." (Italics added.) The allegation that defendant was in the "custody of the sheriff of Alameda County" is not the equivalent of pleading an attempted escape by one who "is confined in . . . county jail" which is also made unlawful by section 4532 subdivision (b).2 Only if defendant had been charged with attempted escape from "county jail" — which he was not — would a discussion of the law applicable to attempted escape from a "local facility" become relevant.B. Defendant Was Correctly Charged and Convicted UnderSection 4532, Subdivision (b).
This is not a case where the defendant was charged under the wrong code section.It has been suggested that computation of a full consecutive sentence under section 1170.1, subdivision (c), might have been proper if defendant had been charged and convicted of attempted escape from state prison under section 4530. I disagree. Section 4532, subdivision (b), and not section 4530, is the appropriate statute for charging an attempted escape by a state prison inmate who is physically in the custody of someone other than the Department of Corrections at the time of the offense.
Section 4530 appears to apply only to a prison inmate who attempts to escape while physically in a state prison or while constructively in a state prison because he is otherwise in the physical custody of the Department of Corrections. Because those circumstances were not descriptive of defendant's status in our case, section 4530 could not have been appropriately used. Further, defendant could have been given a full consecutive sentence under section 1170.1, subdivision (c), whether he was charged with violating section 4532, 4530 or, for that matter, any other felony offense so long as it occurred while he was actually or constructively confined in state prison. (People v.Lamont (1986)
C. Section 1170.1, Subdivision (c), Applies in This Case.
My colleagues in the majority rely on People v. Jones (1980)First of all, subdivision (c) applies to more than felonies committed in an escape — all felonies committed in prison or outside prison following an escape fall within its purview. More importantly, reliance on Jones is misplaced under our facts.Jones provides a rule applicable where a defendant escapes or attempts to escape while serving local time. It does not address cases like this one. Here, defendant was physically in local custody but constructively in state prison at the time he tried to escape. In re Kindred (1981)
Defendant's escape attempt was not literally committed while he was "confined in a state prison." Instead, it occurred in the Alameda County Courthouse while defendant was in the custody of the county sheriff as a parole violator awaiting both return to state prison and sentencing on a dozen new felonies to which he had pleaded guilty. In my view, defendant was constructively "confined in a state prison" because his parole had already been revoked at the time of his attempted escape.
The doctrine of constructive custody has been applied in several different contexts. People v. Nick (1985)
At the time of defendant's escape in our case his custodial status resulting from the revocation of his parole had already been placed under the *Page 310 Department of Corrections. Therefore, he was in the constructive custody of the Department of Corrections at the time of his escape. Accordingly, the same rationale that lead to the conclusions in Nick, Pitcock and Lamont should also apply here so that defendant's actions rendered him subject to section 1170.1, subdivision (c).
A. Statutory Analysis
1. The Statutory Scheme
Section 1170.1 generally has the effect of limiting the total sentence to be served where consecutive sentences have been imposed. There are five different fact patterns (subdivisions (a) through (e)) subject to five different limitations. Were it not for these limitations, there would be no statutory limit to keep a defendant from serving the full term for each additional consecutive term, one right after the other.Subdivision (a) establishes an aggregate term for consecutive sentences consisting of the principal (greatest) term plus the subordinate (additional) terms and instructs the court to take one-third of the middle term for the additional offenses excluding enhancements. It then imposes a five-year cap on the total of all of the subordinate terms.
By comparison, section 1170.1, subdivision (c), establishes the maximum length of a consecutive sentence as a function of defendant's state prison status when any new offense is committed. It first logically instructs that a consecutive sentence imposed on any offense committed after a defendant has been placed in state prison shall not commence until the defendant would have been released on the pre-existing sentence. It then goes on to instruct that if the defendant is being sentenced on more than one new *Page 311
offense and the multiple new terms are to be served consecutive to one another, the same computation formula from subdivision (a) is to be used except that the total of any subordinate terms may exceed five years in length. People v. Lamont, supra,
2. Statutory Interpretation
There is nothing in section 1170.1 nor in any other statute or court rule which requires from a statutory interpretationviewpoint that the applicability of section 1170.1, subdivision (c), be pleaded and proved at trial. In fact, subdivision (f) of section 1170.1 specifically identifies those eleven enhancement statutes which "shall be pleaded and proven as provided by law." Conspicuous about the list in subdivision (f) is the omission of any reference to subdivision (c). Thus, it appears that it was the intent of the Legislature to exempt section 1170.1, subdivision (c), from the requirement of pleading and proof at trial.3A further clear indication that statutes like section 1170.1 are not subject to pleading and proof at trial is found in the Advisory Committee's comment to rule 405 of the California Rules of Court which states: "`Charged' and `found.' Statutes require that the facts giving rise to most enhancements be charged and found. . . . But the enhancement arising from consecutive sentences results from the sentencing judge's decision to impose them, and not from a charge or finding." (Italics added.) A court's decision to make a sentence consecutive or concurrent is based on other authorizing statutes (for example §§ 669, 4501, 4501.5, 4502 or 4530) and not on section 1170.1, *Page 312 subdivision (c). The latter statute comes into play only after adecision to make the sentence consecutive has already been made.
In the present case, section 4532, subdivision (b), itself mandates that a sentence for an attempted escape with force shall be served consecutively to any underlying sentence. All section 1170.1, subdivision (c), says is that, if a defendant receives a new sentence on an offense committed after he is in state prison, he must first finish his underlying unserved term before service of the new consecutive sentence commences. The application of section 1170.1 has computational purposes only and does not involve determinations of guilt or innocence. I would hold, therefore, that application of any of the subdivisions in section 1170.1 belongs within the sentencing judge's realm and not the jury's.4
B. Due Process Considerations: Adequate Notice of CustodialStatus as an Issue at Sentencing.
1. General Due Process Standards
It has been argued that failure to plead and prove to the jury defendant's custodial status as being "constructively in state prison" precludes the use of section 1170.1, subdivision (c). According to the argument, defendant did not receive sufficientnotice that he would be faced at the time of sentencing with his status as a parole violator whose parole had been revoked awaiting return to state prison.It is generally the rule that sentencing considerations need not be treated as elements of an offense upon which the defendant has a right to a full-blown trial by jury. (McMillian v.Pennsylvania (1986)
While the burden of proof during sentencing may be less stringent than the one required during trial, due process questions are raised where a *Page 313
defendant's sentence is greatly enhanced on the basis of facts found exclusively by the sentencing judge. (People v. Foley
(1985)
A finding of aggravation under section 1170, subdivision (b) has the same effect as a finding that a defendant was "in state prison" or "subject to reimprisonment for escape" under section 1170.1, subdivision (c). The sentencing court's finding of a fact in aggravation by a preponderance of the evidence may result in a defendant spending a longer time in prison. Similarly, a finding that the defendant committed an offense while in state prison or while subject to reimprisonment for escape may result in a longer prison stay. It follows, therefore, that the same type of evidentiary proceeding which provides adequate due process protection in finding aggravating factors for sentencing also provides adequate due process protection when determining a defendant's custody status at the time of an attempted escape. Proof regarding defendant's state prison status at the time an offense was committed may be reliably established through the probation report or other evidence in the same way that the probation report or other evidence can be a source for findings of aggravation. *Page 314
2. Defendant Received Due Process at the Time of his Sentencing
In our case the probation report revealed that approximately six months after defendant had been released on parole, he committed new felonies. At the sentencing hearing the district attorney reported to the court that he had confirmed with the state parole board that defendant's parole had been revoked and that he was "doing state prison time" on the date of the attempted escape.The sentencing judge further observed: "As far as the sentencing is concerned, I have been advised and apparently there is no dispute over the fact that the defendant was in fact confined to the [state prison] in that he had been sentenced under his Morrissey hearing and was under a parole violation jail time. And while it was being done here at county jail pending trial, it is still under the law as the court sees it [state prison time]. A person does not actually have to be in state prison per se to come within the provision of section 170.1(c) [sic] which controls mandatory consecutive sentencing for someone who commits such an offense of escape."
In response, defense counsel stated he had "no knowledge of Mr. Mitchell's status." Clearly defense counsel was not contesting the fact of his client's parole violation status — nor did he request a continuance to clear up any doubts or to become better informed on the point.
The circumstances of our case lead to no conclusion other than that the defendant did receive reasonable notice and had ample opportunity at the time of sentencing to contest that his parole had been violated or otherwise clarify his custodial status.5
3. The Rationale of People v. Logsdon is Unpersuasive
In People v. Logsdon, supra,The Logsdon court noted that the Supreme Court has stated that, even though section 667 was omitted from section 1170.1, subdivision (f), a prior serious felony enhancement is still subject to pleading and proof at trial. (People v. Logsdon,supra, 191 Cal.App.3d at p. 343, citing People v. Jackson
(1985)
With all due respect to the Logsdon court, I find its conclusion unpersuasive. The issue of sentence enhancement pursuant to section 667 discussed in the Jackson dictum is substantially different from consecutive computation pursuant to section 1170.1, subdivision (c). Enhancements of the type considered in Jackson involve imposition of a separate term in addition to the underlying term. By contrast, the so-called enhancement effect of consecutive sentence computation under section 1170.1, subdivision (c), only involves lengthening the term of the new, already imposed, consecutive sentence.
Our recent decision in People v. Hooker* (Cal.App.) is very much on point. In Hooker, we concluded that the enhancement arising from consecutive sentences imposed pursuant to section 667.6 (full, separate, consecutive five-year enhancements for sex crimes) were the result of the sentencing judge's decision to impose them and not from any charge or finding. As we explained in Hooker: "The full-force sentencing provisions of section 667.6 do not constitute an enhancement that must be proven or pleaded. . . . This provision effects thelength of the consecutive sentence. It does not change the fact that the consecutive term is imposed for the underlying crime that has clearly been charged in the information. There isnothing else to charge or find other than that the defendantcommitted the crime of which he had notice." Citing People v.Reynolds (1984)
Even if one were to take the position that it is not constitutionally sufficient for a trial judge at sentencing to resolve the entire matter of defendant's state prison status, still defendant Mitchell was given due *Page 316
process in the circumstances of this case. In re Samuel B.
(1986)
In Samuel B., the court was faced with a similar issue involving whether pleading and proof was required in order to impose a mandatory three-year enhancement for certain sex offenses under section 667.8 (as to which pleading and proof not required under 1170.1, subd. (f).) In concluding that "nothing in the language of section 667.8 or any other section, requires the facts necessary to invoke section 667.8 be pleaded and proved, or that one be placed on notice by pleading the statute," the court went on to observe: "This is not a case in which, to invoke the statute, the court must make `a new finding of fact [citation] that was not an ingredient of the offense charged,' which requires notice and other due process safeguards, as in Specht
v. Patterson (1967)
As in Samuel B., the critical elements of the underlying offense in our case were all found true beyond a reasonable doubt by the jury to wit: (a) attempted escape from the custody of the sheriff (b) by force and violence, The sentencing court's determination of the mixed question of law and fact regarding whether defendant was constructively in state prison at the time of the escape "affects only the computation of the maximum term and merely `ups the ante' on defendant." (In re Samuel B.,supra,
Reference
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- The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CORWIN MITCHELL, Defendant and Appellant
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