Lead Opinion
Opinion
I. Introduction
Defendants, Virgil Farr and Gary Willis, appeal after they were each convicted at the conclusion of a court trial of eight felonies occasioned by their participation in numerous forcible sexual assaults and related offenses during a home invasion robbery. They raise sufficiency of the evidence and sentencing issues. In the published portion of this opinion, we address the issue of whether a defendant must personally commit one of the enumerated offenses listed in Penal Code
II. Discussion
Defendants argue that the trial court could not properly sentence them pursuant to section 667.6, subdivision (d)
On the evening of January 26, 1992, Mr. Willis visited the apartment, leaving at approximately 9 or 10 p.m. He had to be asked to leave by Nelyen M. Around 11:30 p.m., Mr. Willis returned to the apartment. He was pounding on the door claiming that “somebody was going to kill him.” Believing that somebody was after Mr. Willis, Nelyen M. opened the door to let him into the apartment. A codefendant, Cory Greenlaw, who was armed with a shotgun, then pushed Mr. Willis into the apartment through the front door. Mr. Greenlaw instructed Mr. Willis to lie down on the floor. Mr. Greenlaw also instructed Nelyen M. to lie across Mr. Willis’s legs. Mr. Greenlaw told her, “Bitch, lay down.” At that time, Mr. Farr, who was holding a gun, entered the apartment with Carvell Sibley, who was also carrying a handgun. Mr. Farr, Mr. Willis, and Mr. Greenlaw were all members of the same street gang. Mr. Sibley was a member of a different street gang. Mr. Greenlaw, Mr. Sibley, and Mr. Farr were wearing ski masks which were on top of their heads during a portion of the incident.
Rasheed B. was forced to lie down on the floor. A pillow was placed over his head. The intruders then began demanding, “Where’s the fucking dope and money?” The intruders began swearing at Rasheed B. and threatening
At some point, Nelyen M. was ordered to lie on the floor in a hallway. Rasheed B., her son, was brought into the hallway. Mr. Farr and Mr. Greenlaw then said to Rasheed B. in reference to his mother Nelyen M. who was now unclothed, “Fuck her.” As Rasheed B. was being pushed down towards his mother who was on the floor and unclothed, he felt a gun in his back. Nelyen M. protested stating that Rasheed B. was her son. Mr. Green-law then said: “What’s up with you all. You some guy bitches.” Mr. Greenlaw ordered Nelyen M. to get on her knees. Rasheed B. was then led from the hallway. Mr. Greenlaw then said, “Man, these bitches ain’t nothing but guy bitches.” Mr. Greenlaw then placed a foreign object in the vagina of Nelyen M. Mr. Willis then walked into the hallway and began to engage in an act of sexual intercourse with Nelyen M. Mr. Willis’s attitude was nonchalant. Mr. Willis then walked back into the kitchen with his pants down around his knees. Mr. Greenlaw then directed Nelyen M. to a couch in the living room. Mr. Willis also ordered her into the living room and onto the couch. Mr. Greenlaw and Mr. Willis then engaged in an act of sexual intercourse with Nelyen M.
Meanwhile, Sandra M. was then forced into another room where she saw Mr. Willis, Rasheed B., and Nelyen M. on the floor. She was immediately placed on the floor next to them. Thereafter, Sandra M. was taken into the kitchen by one of the intruders. At this point, Mr. Willis got up from the living room floor without being told to do so and walked into the kitchen. Mr. Willis entered the kitchen with his pants down. One of the intruders who was wearing a ski mask at the time remained in the kitchen. Mr. Willis then raped Sandra M. Mr. Willis engaged in the forcible acts of intercourse during which there were two separate insertions of his penis into her vagina. At some point the armed man who had forced Sandra M. into the kitchen left. When the man left, while Mr. Willis was still engaging in an act of intercourse, Sandra M. indicated she wanted to escape through the back door of the apartment. Mr. Willis stated that the other men would kill her.
An armed man, who was carrying “like a shotgun,” then entered the kitchen with 13-year-old Rasheed B. The man armed with the shotgun
Mr. Willis and the man armed with a shotgun then left the kitchen. The man who had brought Rasheed B. into the kitchen returned. The man then said to the 13-year-old, “Fuck her.” Sandra M. then lay on her back and Rasheed B. attempted to engage in an act of intercourse with her: Although he could not attain an erection, his penis touched her vagina. Mr. Willis then reentered the kitchen, his pants still down around his ankles, and forced Sandra M. to engage in another act of forcible sexual intercourse. Sandra M. was praying aloud during this act of forcible sexual intercourse.
The incident came to an end when Mr. Farr and Mr. Greenlaw picked up a television and stereo from the apartment. One of the intruders said, “Man, there is a vacant apartment around the way. We can go take the TV ánd the stereo there.” When they opened the apartment door, a police car went by. Mr. Sibley closed the front door to the apartment. One of the assailants said, “Ah, fuck man." After the police car drove away, the stereo and television set were pushed out the front door of the apartment. As the assailants fled, Sandra M. went into the bathroom and began to throw up.
Mr. Farr and Mr. Willis argue that some of their liability for the various offenses was derivative. They were convicted each of: five counts of forcible rape while acting in concert (§ 264.1
Defendants argue that because they did not personally commit all of the sexual assaults, they are not subject to mandatory full term consecutive sentencing under section 667.6, subdivision (d). Their argument is premised in large part on the 1986 amendment to section 667.6, subdivision (d) which they argue requires a defendant personally commit one of the enumerated sexual assaults in order for full term mandatory sentencing to be necessitated. (Stats. 1986, ch. 1431, § 1, p. 5129.) Specifically, they rely on the second paragraph of section 667.6, subdivision (d), enacted in 1986, which states: “In determining whether crimes against a single victim were committed on separate occasions under this subdivision, the court shall consider whether, between the commission of one sex crime and another, the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to reflect upon his or her actions and nevertheless resumed sexually assaultive behavior. Neither the duration of time between crimes, nor whether or not the defendant lost or abandoned his or her opportunity to attack, shall be, in and of itself, determinative on the issue of whether the crimes in question occurred on separate occasions.” (Italics added.) Defendants cite to the italicized reference to “the defendant”
However, the present case involves the application of a separate sentencing scheme—not the interpretation of an enhancement as was the case in Walker. Section 667.6, subdivision (d) does not define crimes nor the elements of enhancements. Rather, section 667.6, subdivision (d) defines a sentencing scheme which sets forth the sentences to be imposed once a conviction of an enumerated sex offense occurs. The California Supreme Court has held, “The Legislature has established a special sentencing scheme for multiple sexual offenses.” (People v. Craft (1986)
Impliedly recognizing this problem, defendants argue that the 1986 amendment reflected a legislative intention to impose on section 667.6, subdivision (d) a requirement that the accused personally commit one of the enumerated sex offenses. To begin with, the Legislature did not explicitly require the accused personally commit any of enumerated offenses in order for section 667.6, subdivision (d) to apply. Further, there would be some incongruity to such a requirement given the fact that one of the enumerated offenses, rape in concert in violation of section 264.1, includes persons who aid and abet in the actual sexual act. (People v. Champion (1995)
However, apart from the absence of any explicit direction by the Assembly and Senate that the accused personally commit the enumerated offenses and the logical incongruity of such analysis; the legislative history of the 1986 amendment contains no evidence, none at all, of an intention on the part of the Legislature to require the defendant to personally commit one of the listed sexual offenses in section 667.6, subdivision (d) in order to be subject to the mandatory full term consecutive sentencing requirement. The explicit purpose of the 1986 amendment was to modify the California Supreme Court decision in People v. Craft, supra,
III. Disposition
As to Gary Willis, the abstract of judgment is to be modified to delete one day of presentence credit. In all other respects, the judgments are affirmed.
Godoy Perez, J., concurred.
Notes
Unless otherwise noted, all future statutory references are to the Penal Code.
See footnote, ante, page 835
Section 667.6, subdivision (d) states: “A full, separate, and consecutive term shall be served for each violation of Section 220, other than an assault with intent to commit mayhem, provided that the person has been convicted previously of violating Section 220 for an offense other than an assault with intent to commit mayhem, paragraph (2), (3), (6), or (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 261, paragraph (1), (4), or (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 262, Section 264.1, subdivision (b) of Section 288, subdivision (a) of Section 289, of committing sodomy in violation of subdivision (k) of Section 286, of committing oral copulation in
Section 264.1 states, “The provisions of Section 264 notwithstanding, in any case in which the defendant, voluntarily acting in concert with another person, by force or violence and against the will of the victim, committed an act described in Section 261, 262, or 289, either personally or by aiding and abetting the other person, that fact shall be charged in the indictment or information and if found to be true by the jury, upon a jury trial, or if found to be true by the court, upon a court trial, or if admitted by the defendant, the defendant shall suffer confinement in the state prison for five, seven, or nine years.”
Section 288a, subdivision (d) states: “Any person who, while voluntarily acting in concert with another person, either personally or by aiding and abetting that other person, commits an act of oral copulation (1) when the act is accomplished against the victim’s will by means of force or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, or (2) where the act is accomplished against the victim’s will by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim or any other person, and there is a reasonable possibility that the perpetrator will execute the threat, or (3) where the victim is at the time incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the act shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for five, seven, or nine years. Notwithstanding the appointment of
Section 288, subdivisions (a) and (b) provides: “(a) Any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including any of the acts constituting other crimes provided for in Part 1, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under the age of 14 years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years. [¶] (b)(1) Any person who commits an act described in subdivision (a) by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years. [¶] (2) Any person who is a caretaker and commits an act described in subdivision (a) upon a dependent adult by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, with the intent described in subdivision (a), is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years.”
See footnote ante, page 835.
Concurrence Opinion
A petition for a rehearing was denied May 8, 1997, and appellant’s petitions for review by the Supreme Court were denied August 13, 1997.
