People v. Martinez
226 Cal. App. 4th 759
Cal. Ct. App.2014Background
- Defendant Guillermo Antonio Martinez (age 23 at incident) lunged at and grabbed a police officer and resisted arrest after the officer was looking at his gang tattoos; charged with felony resisting an executive officer (Pen. Code § 69).
- Defendant pled no contest under a plea agreement and was sentenced to county prison with a portion suspended and one year of mandatory supervision with conditions.
- Probation report: lengthy juvenile record, prior gang-related crimes (2004, 2006), admitted prior membership in Calle Townsend gang, said he was "jumped out" about three years earlier.
- At sentencing the court imposed gang-related mandatory supervision conditions including: (1) report to local police gang detail within 14 days; and (2) stay out of court buildings unless a party, defendant, or witness (condition No. 28).
- On appeal defendant challenged condition No. 24 (report to gang unit) as unrelated/overbroad and condition No. 28 (ban on presence in court buildings) as overly broad and infringing First Amendment access to courts.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Validity of condition requiring reporting to local police gang detail | Condition reasonably related to supervision and public safety; helps monitor compliance | Unreasonable: no evidence of current/recent gang membership; unrelated to resisting-officer conviction | Affirmed: reporting condition valid; not registration and reasonably related to preventing future criminality |
| Validity of condition barring presence at court buildings | Condition intended to prevent gang intimidation at court; part of gang-terms package | Overbroad; infringes First Amendment right of access; defendant not an active gang member | Modified (not stricken): limited to criminal court proceedings/courthouse areas the defendant knows or reasonably should know involve gang charges or persons associated with gangs, with enumerated exceptions (party, defendant, subpoenaed witness, probation officer permission, or lawful court business) |
Key Cases Cited
- People v. Lent, 15 Cal.3d 481 (Lent standard for probation/parole condition validity)
- People v. Lopez, 66 Cal.App.4th 615 (gang-condition justification; association leads to criminality)
- NBC Subsidiary (KNBC–TV), Inc. v. Superior Court, 20 Cal.4th 1178 (public right of access to court proceedings)
- People v. Perez, 176 Cal.App.4th 380 (court attendance ban struck as unnecessary restriction on access)
- People v. Leon, 181 Cal.App.4th 943 (modified courthouse ban by adding scienter and probation-officer permission)
- In re Sheena K., 40 Cal.4th 875 (review standards for vagueness/overbreadth of conditions)