People v. Frankel CA3
C080650
| Cal. Ct. App. | Oct 4, 2016Background
- In Aug. 2015 Shane Frankel threatened and violently assaulted his girlfriend, Lindsay Dunlap, strangling her until she lost consciousness; Dunlap described him as possessive.
- Police were called; Frankel denied the assault. He was charged with injuring a cohabitant (with a great-bodily-injury enhancement) and making criminal threats; he pleaded guilty to making criminal threats (§ 422).
- Pursuant to a plea agreement, the other count and enhancement were dismissed. The court suspended sentence and granted 36 months’ probation with 180 days jail.
- Probation included a protective order prohibiting any contact with Dunlap and a condition requiring Frankel to make all data devices and network accounts available for inspection (including passwords); officers may search on request.
- Frankel objected at sentencing and appealed, arguing the electronic search condition was overbroad and unreasonable under People v. Lent. The Court of Appeal affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Validity of electronic search probation condition | Condition is reasonably related to preventing future criminality and enforcing the protective order | Condition is overbroad, unrelated to the convicted offense, and not reasonably related to future criminality (invokes Lent) | Affirmed: condition reasonable and within trial court’s discretion to monitor compliance with no-contact order |
Key Cases Cited
- People v. Lent, 15 Cal.3d 481 (1975) (three-part test for invalidating probation conditions)
- People v. Olguin, 45 Cal.4th 375 (2008) (Lent analysis and relation to future criminality)
- People v. Welch, 5 Cal.4th 228 (1993) (trial court abuse of discretion standard)
- People v. Ebertowski, 228 Cal.App.4th 1170 (2014) (upholding similar electronic-search condition to monitor probationer’s activities)
- People v. Harvey, 25 Cal.3d 754 (1979) (procedural waiver rule referenced for dismissal of other counts)
- In re Ricardo P., 241 Cal.App.4th 676 (2015) (related appellate discussion of electronic searches; review granted)
- In re Patrick F., 242 Cal.App.4th 104 (2015) (related appellate discussion; review granted)