People v. Rhinehart
People v. Rhinehart
Opinion of the Court
*1125Defendant and appellant Liam Rhinehart pled no contest to one felony count of carrying a dirk or dagger and one misdemeanor count of exhibiting a deadly weapon. The trial court suspended his sentence and placed him on three years' probation. Rhinehart appeals probation conditions which ordered him to "[s]tay out of places where alcohol is the primary item of sale, such as bars or liquor stores;" to "[b]e of good conduct and obey all laws;" and to "not be adjacent to any school campus during school hours unless [he is] enrolled or with prior permission of school Administration or probation." In order to address any possible vagueness, we modify the last condition to specify that he must maintain a 50-foot distance from any school campus. We otherwise affirm as modified.
BACKGROUND
In August 2015, Rhinehart entered a frozen yogurt shop in Santa Rosa and started to harass a group of children. When a shop employee asked him to leave, Rhinehart refused. Watching his exchange with an employee, a customer thought Rhinehart was positioning himself to attack the employee. The customer stepped between the two and joined in asking Rhinehart to leave.
*1126Rhinehart made his way towards the exit but was challenging the customer to fight. As he held the store door open, he appeared to reach for his knife. Fearful for his safety, the customer punched Rhinehart in the face, and the men continued fighting outside. Rhinehart pulled out his knife and swung, nearly striking the customer. At that point, the customer fled and Rhinehart gave chase. The customer eventually returned to the yogurt shop, where the employee locked the doors and called police.
The police detained Rhinehart at gunpoint when he refused to follow the officer's instructions to get down on the ground. Nearby, another officer found Rhinehart's backpack which contained a "rusty saw-like knife."
Rhinehart was charged with two felonies: assault with a deadly weapon ( Pen. Code § 245, subd. (a)(1) (count 1) ) and carrying a dirk or dagger ( Pen. Code, § 21310 (count 2) ). He was also charged with three misdemeanors: exhibiting a deadly weapon ( Pen. Code § 417, subd. (a)(1) (count 3) ); resisting, obstructing, or delaying a peace officer ( Pen. Code, § 148, subd. (a)(1) (count 4) ); and possession of a controlled substance ( Health & Saf. Code, § 11350 (count 5) ).
In a negotiated disposition, Rhinehart pled no contest to carrying a dirk or dagger and exhibiting a deadly weapon. The other charges were dismissed. The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Rhinehart on probation for three years. Among his probation conditions, the court ordered Rhinehart to "[s]tay out of places where alcohol is the *725primary item of sale, such as bars or liquor stores" and to "[b]e of good conduct and obey all laws."
ANALYSIS
"In granting probation, courts have broad discretion to impose conditions to foster rehabilitation and to protect public safety pursuant to Penal Code section 1203.1." ( People v. Carbajal (1995)
Constitutional challenges to a probation condition are reviewed de novo. ( In re Shaun R. (2010)
A. Condition Prohibiting Entrance In Stores Where Alcohol Primarily Sold
Rhinehart contends that the probation condition prohibiting him from entering places where alcohol is the primary item of sale such as bars and liquor stores is vague. He says "the identity of places ... where alcohol comprises more than 50 percent of the sales would not be readily apparent to the average probationer." He argues an express knowledge requirement must be added to this condition. While appellate courts in the past have added scienter requirements to clarify probation conditions (see, e.g., In re Vincent G. (2008)
Last year, in People v. Hall (2017)
While Hall involved conditions barring a probationer from possessing certain contraband, its reasoning applies with equal force to conditions prohibiting a probationer from entering certain spaces, like the one at issue here. The condition forbidding Rhinehart from entering a business which primarily sells alcohol does not include reference to any mental state, but neither is it unconstitutionally vague. As Hall establishes, there is already a general presumption that a probation condition violation must be willful. Thus, a violation of this condition can occur only if Rhinehart enters a business which he knows sells alcohol primarily. He is not in violation if his entrance to such an establishment was unwitting. Because willfulness is presumed and nothing would change if we were to add "knowingly" to the condition, we decline Rhinehart's modification request.
Rhinehart argues Hall does not govern here because that case involved conditions prohibiting possession of certain items, whereas his condition prohibits entry into certain types of locations. This is a distinction without a difference. Just as a probation condition can presume a probationer's knowledge that he possesses a restricted object (e.g., a firearm or a drug), it can also presume his knowledge the he entered a restricted space (e.g., a liquor store or bar). No scienter modification is necessary. We need not address the older, pre- Hall cases Rhinehart cites.
B. Good Behavior Condition
Rhinehart contends the "good conduct" part of the probation condition ordering him to "be of good conduct and obey all laws" is vague and should be stricken. Again, we disagree.
*1129"When interpreting a probation condition, we rely on 'context and common sense.' " ( *727In re I.S. (2016)
In context, the phrase "be of good conduct" must be interpreted with its conjunctive phrase "and obey all laws." Applying context and common sense, the good behavior condition simply requires Rhinehart be a law-abiding citizen. (Cf. In re D.H. (2016)
Rhinehart relies on In re P.O. (2016)
C. Gang Condition Prohibiting Presence Adjacent to School Campus
Rhinehart also challenges the gang condition that prohibits him from being "adjacent to any school campus during school hours unless [he is] enrolled or with prior permission of school Administration or probation." In particular, he asserts the terms "adjacent" and "school campus" are vague, and due to this lack of precision, he asserts the condition impermissibly infringes on his right to travel.
As an initial matter, Rhinehart's appeal of the gang condition is not forfeited even though he did not seek a modification in the trial court. Even absent an objection in the trial court, an appellant may challenge a probation *1130condition asserted to be unconstitutional on its face. ( Sheena K. , supra , 40 Cal.4th at pp. 888-889,
Turning to the substantive grounds of Rhinehart's challenge, only "adjacent to" merits modification. People v. Barajas (2011)
Apparently taking a cue from Barajas , Rhinehart requests that we address this uncertainty about distance by specifying he keep a 50-foot distance from any restricted school campus. We agree a modification is proper here.
While "adjacent to" needs modification, we disagree with Rhinehart's argument that "school campus" is also unconstitutionally vague. Rhinehart contends that reasonable minds may disagree about the type of school covered by the condition (K-12, college, business, technical, professional, etc.), and he notes that some schools occupy commercial buildings. Due to this vagueness, he again suggests we add an explicit knowledge requirement. But as discussed above, Hall , supra ,
The People respond that no modification whatsoever is necessary for this condition, nor do they offer any view on Rhinehart's proposed 50-foot restriction. Citing to Hall , the People explain that Rhinehart cannot violate this condition unless he knows the structure is a school. As the paragraph immediately above indicates, we agree with this point only as to the controverted term "school campus." However, the People's argument does *1131not address "adjacent to" which is an abstract spatial concept substantively different from the possession of restricted contraband, as discussed in Hall , or entering into a restrictive space, as discussed above. The implied knowledge requirement established by Hall does not address the concern that the term "adjacent to" is not sufficiently specific to provide effective notice to Rhinehart of what is required of him. Even if Rhinehart knows that a certain structure is a school campus restricted under this condition, such imputed knowledge does nothing to address how near he can be to that campus without violating the condition. Thus, the fair warning and arbitrary enforcement concerns identified in Barajas , supra , 198 Cal.App.4th at p. 761,
Finally, this probation condition does not infringe on Rhinehart's travel rights. "Although criminal offenders placed on probation retain their constitutional right to travel, reasonable and incidental restrictions on their movement are permissible." ( People v. Moran (2016)
*729DISPOSITION
The gang condition is modified to state: "You shall not be within 50 feet of any school campus during school hours unless you are enrolled or with prior permission of school Administration or probation." As so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
We concur:
Pollak, Acting P.J.
Jenkins, J.
The written version of the condition omits the "such as bars or liquor stores" examples.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.