Opinion
Defendant appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict finding her guilty of grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. 1) and burglary (Pen. Code, § 459) as charged. She contends that: 1) she was deprived of her federal and state substantive due process rights because she was forced to stand trial after her codefendant rejected the “package deal” plea bargain offer conditioned on the acceptance of the bargain by both; 2) the booking search of her purse was unreasonable; 3) her statements prior to booking were еrroneously admitted; and 4) her unduly harsh sentence violated the principles of
In re Lewallen
(1979)
As there are no contentions concerning the sufficiency of the evidence and defendant concedes her participation in the events, a precis of the facts of the offenses will suffice. Additional facts will be set forth in our discussion of defendant’s contentions on appeal.
About noon on Aрril 25, 1978, defendant and her two coperpetrators, Jackson and Howard, entered a San Francisco jewelry store owned and operated by one of the victims, M. Figenbaum. The jewelry store was about 20 feet by 20 feet and contained a workbench and several display cases. Jackson approached the counter while defendant and Howard browsed around the store. After a $1 purchase, Jackson’s questions and conduct aroused the suspicions of Figenbaum, who was confined to a wheelchair. Figenbаum called for help when Howard walked to the rear of the store and tried the safe door, which was closed but not locked. Figenbaum warned Howard that the rear portion of the store was off limits to customers, moved himself to the rear of the store, and again called for help. He then saw defendant, who had her back to him, proceed to the cash drawer and remove about $30 in paper currency that he had in the drawer.
Defendant and her companions and their Chrysler vehicle were also observed by a neighbor, D. Stanley, who called the police after Ms. Gitlitz informed him of the theft of her wallet. Stanley provided descriptions and several digits of the license number. Shortly after San Francisco plainclothes Officers Brewer and Shegoleff hаd received a radio report and the descriptions, they stopped a Chrysler vehicle on Lincoln Way, a short distance from the jewelry store. Five digits of the license number matched those reported by Stanley and the occupants of the car matched the descriptions provided by Stanley and Ms. Gitlitz. The vehicle driven by Howard was stopped and its occupants arrested; Jackson was in the passenger seat; in the back seat was 15-year-old Ms. S. J. and defendant. Both had purses which Brewer placed in the front seаt.
The jewelry items found on the front seat and floor, as well as a watch taken from Jackson and a watch taken from Howard were subsequently identified as merchandise from Figenbaum’s store. Jackson had $36.59 in his pocket. During the booking process, defendant’s purse was searched by Shegoleff. He found a wallet containing identification documents and credit cards belonging to Ms. Gitlitz. Also during the booking procedure, Shegoleff asked defendant for her name and date of birth. Defendant supplied the requested information and volunteerеd that Ms. S. J. “had nothing to do with it.” A subsequent search of the room where defendant and Ms. S. J. had been confined before the booking revealed additional items taken from Figenbaum’s shop.
Later that same afternoon, Ms. Gitlitz identified defendant, Jackson and Howard as the persons she had seen in the store. Figenbaum confirmed her identifications at the trial. Defendant’s right index fingerprint was found on one of the display cases in Figenbaum’s store.
Defendant’s major contention on appeal is that as a result of the “package plea bаrgain,” she was deprived of her federal and state rights to due process. The record indicates that the “package” offered to
We reject the People’s argument that the issue is moot or not properly before us beсause the record is not complete as to the details of the plea bargain. Our Supreme Court in
People
v.
West
(1970)
The parties agree that the substantive due process issue is one of first impression in this state and one on which the federal circuit courts do not agree. Also in issue are the due process aspects of the prosecution’s “package” condition, i.e., that both defendants must accept the plea bargain.
The federal constitutional arguments on each side were aptly summarized in
Government of Virgin Islands
v.
Scotland
(3d Cir. 1980)
“In Cooper the court held that the defendant, in circumstances similar to this case, had a right to compel specific performance of an unconsummated plea bargain as a matter of fundamental fairness within substantive due process guarantees of the fifth amendment and under the sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. Since the plea bargain here was, in fact, accepted prior to the government’s withdrawal, there is perhaps a stronger bаsis for ordering specific performance than existed in Cooper. For the reasons outlined below, however, we still find no basis for binding the government to its bargain.
“The court in Cooper concluded that there were seven factual elements crucial to its finding that defendant’s constitutional rights to substantive due process had been violated. These factors were as follows: [ 1 ] The proposal was specific and unambiguous in form, and was made without any reservation related to a superior’s approval or otherwise; [2] its content was reasonable in сontext; [3] it was made by a prosecutor with apparent (and probably actual) authority at that time; [4] it was communicated promptly to the defendant so that no question of staleness was involved; [5] the defendant assented promptly and unequivocally to its terms, indicated his assent to his counsel, and was entitled so far as the record shows to assume that its communication to the government would consummate the plea agreement, [6] defense counsel did in fact within a matter of a few hours communicate defendant’s aсceptance to the government by sheer fortuity being told of the government’s ‘withdrawal’ before he could vocalize his client’s ‘acceptance’; [7] and finally, the reason for the attempted withdrawal had nothing to do with extenuating circumstances affecting the government’s or any public interest that were unknown when the proposal was extended. ...” (Pp. 362-363.)
“The substantive due process argument is the real crux of the Cooper holding and presents us with much weightier concerns.
“The Supreme Court has recognized that a defendant may plea bargain, and that if the process is prоperly administered, ‘it is to be
“The government contends that the Cooper rule interferes with judicial discretion and prosecutorial discretion and will discourage prosecutorial plea proposals. The contention that the Cooper rule may interfere with judicial discretion is another way of arguing that the court’s power to accept or reject a plea and evaluate its fairness will be impaired. For example, if a court were compelled to grant specific enforcement and hold the prosecutor to his bargain, the court would not be evaluating the plea itself. We reject this argument as being without merit: a court may (1) hold the prosecutor to his offer and then (2) proceed to evaluate the fairness of the bargain.
“The government also argues that the Cooper rule would discourage prosecutorial offers of pleas contrary to the Court’s approval or encouragement of plea bargaining in Santobello. United States Attorneys will be reluctant to offer to bargain until they are very sure that they want to be bound by the offer. The fact that the government would have to be very careful about all elements of the offer certainly is not detrimental. However, if the result of the rule is either a delay in bargaining or fewer plea proposals, there is also a consequent diminished savings of prosecutorial and judicial resources. Moreover, the advantages of quick disposition and quick punishment are also diminished.
“The role of the prosecutor must also be considered. He has at least four different and possible functions: (1) to act as an administrator and dispose of cases in the fastest, most efficient manner; (2) to act as an advocate for the state to maximize convictions and severity of sentences; (3) to judge the individual’s social circumstances and ensure fairness, (4) to act as a quasi-legislator, granting concessions because the law is too harsh. The plea bargaining process implicates all of these functions. The bargaining prоcess has often been analogized to contract principles,
“Although the contentions concerning prosecutorial discretion and the discouragement of pleas are persuasive, the availability of an alternative remedy for the defendant is the convincing factor for rejecting the Cooper rule.
“If the defendant is not allowed to compel specific performance of a plea proposal, he may withdraw his tendered plea or refuse to consent to any new bargain proposed by the prosecutor. It may be argued that this ‘remedy’ is insufficient, particularly in cases where, as here, the government’s acts were far from exemplary. Howevеr, the defendant is then entitled to his constitutional right to trial by jury. This fundamental right would be belittled if we held it to be an insufficient ‘remedy’ or result for a defendant who has not been induced to rely on the plea to his detriment. The prosecutor is under no duty to plea bargain—if no offer is made, the defendant is entitled to a trial. There is no rational basis for holding, in essence, that a trial is sufficient for the defendant who has not been offered a plea and insufficient for the one who has. The courts cannot compel the prosecutor to оffer a plea bargain to eliminate the resulting discrimination between these two types of defendants. There is no rule that dictates that the prosecutor may not simply let a case go to trial. In the case sub judice, Springette is in the same position as if he had not been offered a plea because no detrimental reliance is alleged. Thus we reject a Cooper-type rule that would allow specific performance of an unconsummated plea in the absence of such detrimental reliаnce because a jury trial on the charge is an adequate remedy” (pp. 363-365).
We find particularly persuasive on the instant facts
McMillian
v.
United States
(8th Cir. 1978)
Nor can we agree with defendant that the package condition of the instant plea bargain is tantamount to: 1) an improper attempt to influence the testimony of defendant or a defense witness
(United States
v.
Henricksen
(5th Cir. 1977)
Defendant argues that where, as here, an agreement has been unequivocally accepted, it must be specifically enforceable. She attempts
To us, the significant factor is whether in the plea bargain a defendant has given up a valuable constitutional right, such as the right to а speedy trial
(United States
v.
Garcia
(9th Cir. 1975)
Defendant further complains of a substantive state constitutional due prоcess violation on the same grounds and relies on
People
v.
Collins, supra,
Defendant’s contention concerning the unreasonableness of the booking search of her purse, which revealed Ms. Gitlitz’ wallet, is untenable.
People
v.
Sims
(1980)
Defendant next contends that the admission of her volunteered statement during booking constituted prejudicial reversible error, pursuant to
People
v.
Rucker
(1980)
Finally, defendant contends that the People’s argument at the sentencing hearing and the trial court’s imposition of sentence in accordance with the People’s recommendation was a violation of the principles of
In re Lewallen, supra,
Defendant also maintains that the court considered only the factors offered by the prosecution in sentencing her to the mitigated term of 16 months in prison for each offense and staying the sentence on the second (burglary) count, the stay to become permanent on completion of the term for the grand theft count. The record reveals that defendant was eligible for probation but had two priors, including one as a juvenile in 1976, a drug problem, and a bad record as to prior probation and appearances at the instant proceedings. Her counsel acknowledged defendant’s heroin problem, sought probation and a commitment to a residential drug program with a minimum of nine months, emphasized the nonviolent nature of the instant and the priors, the relatively small amount of the grand theft, that defendant was not the principal perpetrator of the offenses involved, her youth (22) and recent efforts at rehabilitation. Contrary to defendant’s argument, the court considered all of the above factors and did not base its sentence solely upon the recommendation of the People. The court concluded that on the basis of defendant’s past performance on bail or OR release, she would be a bаd risk for the recommended drug treatment program, which had no locked doors. Thus, the court concluded that incarceration was the proper sentence, rejected the aggravating factors, sentenced defendant
The judgment is affirmed.
Rouse, J., and Smith, J. concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied January 16, 1981, аnd appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied March 11, 1981.
Notes
Defendant was offered the opportunity to plead guilty to one of the two charged counts and receive a misdemeanor sentence; Jackson, the opportunity to plead guilty to one count of petty theft with a prior (Pen. Code, § 666), the remaining felony counts to be dismissed and his mitigated term sentence to run concurrently with a parole revocation based on the same facts. Jackson’s punishment for the instant offense pursuаnt to the bargain was a felony and appropriately punished more heavily
(People
v.
Beaty,
(1978)
Pursuant to Evidence Code section 452, subdivision (d) and section 453, as requested, we have taken judicial notice of the proceedings against Jackson, San Francisco Superior Court No. 96984, and particularly the change of plea form.
At the initial sentencing hearing on December 19, 1978, defendant’s trial counsel stated the plea bargaining facts for the record. The People did not challenge her version of the facts at the initial or subsequеnt sentencing hearing. Thus, the People are now precluded from challenging a matter in which the prosecutor below acquiesced
(People
v.
Miller
(1972)
Garcia
is the only Ninth Circuit case and predates
Cooper, supra,
As
Rucker
was decided January 29, 1980, after the instant trial, defense counsel’s failure to object does not preclude us from considering the issue
(People
v.
Williams
(1976)
Both tests are used here since in Rucker, supra, the majority of four concluded that the applicable test was Watson, supra, while the minority of three concluded that the applicable test was Chapman, supra. All seven agreed that a Rucker error was prejudicial and reversible where, as here, the information was used to show consciousness of guilt.
