In re STEVEN L. HADEN, on Habeas Corpus.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR
Filed 6/5/20
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION; (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. SC042504)
In People v. Gallardo (2017) 4 Cal.5th 120 (Gallardo), our Supreme Court disapproved its
Recently, in In re Milton (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 977 (Milton), the Second District Court of Appeal, in a thorough analysis of the retroactivity issue, held Gallardo does not apply retroactively to final convictions. We agree with Milton. Because Gallardo does not apply retroactively to Haden‘s conviction, which became final almost 20 years ago, we need not determine whether he would be entitled to relief under that decision, and we will deny his petition.
BACKGROUND
In 1998, Haden pleaded no contest to infliction of corporal injury on a spouse (
Haden appealed, arguing the North Dakota robbery convictions could not constitute strikes for sentencing purposes. We rejected Haden‘s argument and affirmed the conviction. (People v. Haden (Jan. 25, 2000, A086575) [nonpub. opn.].) Although the elements of robbery under North Dakota law differed from those under California law, so that it could not be determined from mere fact of conviction that Haden had committed strikes under California law, we explained that it was reasonable for the trial court to determine from the record in Haden‘s North Dakota cases that the two robberies “were the equivalent of California robberies.” (Ibid.) The Supreme Court denied Haden‘s petition for review (May 10, 2000, S086458).
In October 2015, Haden filed another habeas petition in this court (A146612), arguing that under the United States Supreme Court‘s then-recent decision in Descamps v. United States (2013) 570 U.S. 254 (Descamps), the trial court made improper factual findings when treating the North Dakota convictions as strikes. We denied the petition after concluding Descamps “does not apply retroactively to this case which has been final for more than a decade.”
Haden then sought habeas relief in the Supreme Court (S230939), arguing that the North Dakota robbery convictions did not qualify as strikes under Descamps. In March of 2016, the Supreme Court denied the petition “without prejudice to any relief to which petitioner might be entitled after this court decides People v. Gallardo, S231260.”
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Gallardo, supra, 4 Cal.5th 120 on December 21, 2017. Disapproving its prior decision in People v. McGee, supra, 38 Cal.4th 682, the Supreme Court held a “court considering whether to impose an increased sentence based on a prior qualifying conviction may not determine the ‘nature or basis’ of the prior conviction based on its independent conclusions about what facts or conduct ‘realistically’ supported the conviction.” (Gallardo, at p. 136.) Such an inquiry, the court explained, violates a defendant‘s Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial because it “invades the jury‘s province by permitting the court to make disputed findings about ‘what a trial showed, or a plea proceeding revealed, about the defendant‘s underlying conduct.‘” (Ibid.) “The court‘s role is, rather, limited to identifying those facts that were established by virtue of the conviction itself—that is, facts the jury was necessarily required to find to render a guilty verdict, or that the defendant admitted as the factual basis for a guilty plea.” (Ibid.)
On May 7, 2018, Haden filed the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court (S248706). He argued the trial court‘s imposition of the North Dakota robberies as strikes in 1998 contravened Gallardo because the court examined the record from the North Dakota cases to determine the factual nature of the prior convictions. After the Attorney General submitted an informal response, the Supreme Court transferred the petition to this court with the following order: “The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is ordered to show cause returnable before the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Four, when the matter is placed on calendar, why petitioner is not entitled to relief pursuant to People v. Gallardo (2017) 4 Cal.5th 120, and why Gallardo should not apply retroactively on habeas corpus to final judgments of conviction.” The Attorney General has filed a return opposing Haden‘s petition, and Haden, through appointed counsel, has filed a traverse. The matter is now before us for decision.
DISCUSSION
Haden argues that Gallardo should apply retroactively even though his conviction was final at the time Gallardo was decided. The retroactivity issue was carefully considered in Milton, under circumstances similar in all relevant respects to the situation here. The Second Appellate District‘s recent opinion in that case analyzes the issue at length, and we see no reason to repeat that analysis here. Haden contends that Milton was wrongly decided and should not be followed, but each of his arguments was considered and rejected in that opinion. We agree with the analysis and conclusions of the Second Appellate District and, like the Fourth Appellate District, follow its lead in holding that Gallardo does not apply retroactively to final convictions. (See In re Scott (June 4, 2020, D076909) ___ Cal.App.5th ___ [2020 Cal.App. Lexis 486, at p. *2] [following Milton and holding Gallardo does not apply retroactively to final convictions].)
As the court in Milton explained, California courts generally apply two separate tests—one federal and one state—when deciding whether new constitutional rules of criminal procedure apply retroactively to final convictions. (Milton, supra, 42 Cal.App.5th at pp. 988-989.) The court began its analysis under the federal standard derived from Teague v. Lane (1989) 489 U.S. 288. Under Teague, “‘as a general matter, “new constitutional rules of criminal procedure will not be applicable to those cases which have become final before the new rules are announced.“‘” (Milton, supra, at p. 988.) “’Teague and its progeny recognize two categories of decisions that fall outside this general bar on retroactivity for procedural rules. First, “[n]ew substantive rules generally apply retroactively.” [Citations.] Second, new “watershed rules of criminal procedure,” which are procedural rules “implicating the fundamental fairness and accuracy of the criminal proceeding,” will also have retroactive effect.‘” (Id. at p. 989.)
The Milton court then concluded Gallardo is not retroactive under the federal standard. The court began its analysis by explaining why Gallardo established a new rule under federal law and was not merely an extension of Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466 (Apprendi). (Milton, supra, 42 Cal.App.5th at p. 990.) Gallardo “did not merely apply the holding of Apprendi to the recidivist sentencing scheme in California.” (Milton, at p. 991.) Instead, Gallardo
Next, the Milton court explained that the new rule from Gallardo is procedural, not substantive, “because it prescribes the manner of finding facts to increase the defendant‘s sentence.” (Milton, supra, 42 Cal.App.5th at p. 992.) “Before Gallardo, the trial court, as authorized by McGee, could examine the entire record of conviction to determine the ‘nature or basis’ of the prior conviction based on its independent conclusion. [Citation.] After Gallardo, the trial court can only look at a subset of this record, namely, facts that ‘the jury was necessarily required to find to render a guilty verdict, or that the defendant admitted as the factual basis for a guilty plea.‘” (Milton, at p. 992.)
Finally, the Milton court determined that ”Gallardo, though significant, was not a watershed rule of criminal procedure because limiting the role of the trial court and the scope of what the court may review and consider to impose an increased sentence is not a rule ‘“without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction is seriously diminished.“‘” (Milton, supra, 42 Cal.App.5th at p. 994.) “[T]he California Supreme Court did not reach this conclusion because a sentencing court‘s factfinding, or the kind of evidence sentencing courts used to consider in connection with that factfinding, was somehow inaccurate or unreliable. Rather, the California Supreme Court in Gallardo limited the role of the sentencing court in imposing increased sentences and the materials the sentencing court can consider to protect the defendant‘s Sixth Amendment jury trial right.” (Milton, at p. 995Gallardo announced a procedural rule that fell short of being a “watershed rule of criminal procedure,” the court in Milton concluded that under the federal standard Gallardo does not apply retroactively to final convictions. (Milton, at p. 996.)
The Milton court then analyzed whether Gallardo applies retroactively to final convictions under the California standard established in In re Johnson (1970) 3 Cal.3d 404 (Johnson). The court explained that under Johnson, “‘[f]ully retroactive decisions are seen as vindicating a right which is essential to a reliable determination of whether an accused should suffer a penal sanction. . . . [¶] On the other hand, decisions which have been denied retroactive effect are seen as vindicating interests which are collateral to or relatively far removed from the reliability of the fact-finding process at trial.‘” (Milton, supra, 42 Cal.App.5th at p. 997.) “‘If the new rule aims . . . to define procedural rights merely incidental to a fair determination of guilt or innocence, it will
