The Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (the STEP Act) imposes an additional penalty on any defendant who commits a felony to benefit a criminal street gang. The length of the sentence enhancement depends on whether the felony is serious, violent, or non-serious and nonviolent. Defendant Trevaun Ian Francis
We conclude, based on the plain language of the statute, that the gang enhancement for "other felonies" cannot be appended to a serious or violent felony because serious and violent felonies fall within that provision's excepting clause. We therefore modify the judgment to reflect the serious-felony gang enhancement, stay the enhancement, and affirm as modified.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On June 8, 2010, defendant, who had recently turned 18 years old, drove two fellow members of the Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips to territory claimed by the Fruit Town Brims, a Bloods gang. Defendant shot at a cyclist who appeared to belong to the rival gang.
By second amended information filed January 14, 2011, defendant was charged with assault with a firearm ( Pen. Code,
Defendant pled not guilty and denied the allegations. After a bifurcated trial at which he testified in his own defense, a jury found defendant guilty of counts 3 and 4 and found the conduct enhancements true. Defendant waived his right to a jury determination of the truth of the two on-bail allegations, admitted one allegation (pertaining to case no. BA369882), and denied the other allegation (case no. YJ33464).
At sentencing, defendant argued-and the prosecution conceded-that the serious-felony gang enhancement that had been alleged and proven under
Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.
DISCUSSION
In People v. Rodriguez , the California Supreme Court held that under section 1170.1, subdivision (f), when a crime qualifies as a violent felony solely because the defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of that felony, the personal use can support either a firearm enhancement (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)) or a violent-felony gang enhancement (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)), but not both.
In this case, as in Le , defendant was convicted of assault with a semiautomatic firearm ( § 245, subd. (b) ) with personal-use (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)) and gang enhancements (subd. (b)(1)). The trial court recognized that under Rodriguez and Le , it could not enhance defendant's sentence under either
While the People insist the reasoning of Rodriguez and Le does not extend to subdivision (b)(1)(A) enhancements, this case does not require us to resolve that question. Instead, the issue turns on familiar principles of statutory interpretation and plain language. Applying those principles, we hold that because subdivision (b)(1)(A) unambiguously excludes serious and violent felonies, that enhancement may not be appended to a serious or violent felony.
1. Standard of Review
Subdivision (b)(1)(A)'s application to serious or violent felonies is an issue of "statutory interpretation that we must consider de novo." ( People v. Prunty (2015)
We adhere to the plain language of the statute "unless doing so would lead to absurd results the Legislature could not have intended." ( People v. Birkett (1999)
2. Plain Meaning
The STEP Act "imposes various punishments on individuals who commit gang-related crimes-including a sentencing enhancement on those who commit felonies 'for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang.' ( Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (b).)" ( People v. Prunty , supra ,
(b)(1) [e]xcept as provided in paragraphs (4) and (5), ... shall, upon conviction of that felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishmentprescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished as follows :
(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the person shall be punished by an additional term of two, three, or four years at the court's discretion.
(B) If the felony is a serious felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1192.7, the person shall be punished by an additional term of five years.
(C) If the felony is a violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5, the person shall be punished by an additional term of 10 years.
(Emphasis added.) Paragraphs (4) and (5) provide that a defendant convicted of certain serious or violent felonies "shall" receive an indeterminate life term with a specified minimum parole eligibility date. (Subds. (b)(4), (b)(5).)
This series of interlocking provisions is the mechanism by which subdivision (b) attaches specific penalties to specific types of crimes-two, three, or four years for a basic felony (subd. (b)(1)(A)); five years for a serious felony (subd. (b)(1)(B)); 10 years for a violent felony (subd. (b)(1)(C)); and a life sentence with a specified minimum parole term for enumerated serious or violent felonies (subds. (b)(4), (b)(5)). Each penalty is mandatory. ( Le , supra ,
The statutory language is clear and unambiguous. Accordingly, it requires no interpretation or construction. Subdivision (b)(1) applies to every gang crime except those designated in subdivisions (b)(4) and (b)(5). Subdivision (b)(1)(A) applies to all remaining eligible felonies "[e]xcept as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C)." Subdivision (b)(1)(B) provides that "a serious
In general, a court exceeds its jurisdiction when it imposes an unauthorized or legally impossible sentence. ( People v. Scott (1994)
"Following the plain language of section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1) does not produce an absurd result; the most that can be said is that it will not increase the defendant's actual custody time in all cases where a gang allegation is found true." ( People v. Johnson (2003)
This is not an unreasonable result. The Legislature knows how to draft statutory exceptions. Indeed, the firearm enhancement imposed in this case is itself rooted in an exception to the general rule barring such enhancements. ( Le , supra ,
Section 12022.53 subjects "offenders who personally used ... a firearm in committing a gang-related offense" to both a personal-use enhancement and a gang enhancement-but that statute only applies to specifically-enumerated serious and violent felonies. ( People v. Brookfield (2009)
3. Statutory Consistency
Principles of statutory consistency and stare decisis also require us to follow the plain language of subdivision (b)(1)(A). (See Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962)
As we have discussed, subdivision (b) contains a series of interlocking provisions. The excepting clause in subdivision (b)(1)(A) mirrors the excepting clause in subdivision (b)(1). (Compare subd. (b)(1) [enhancement applies "[e]xcept as provided in paragraphs (4) and (5)"] with subd. (b)(1)(A) [subparagraph applies "[e]xcept as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C)"].)
In Lopez , the court addressed whether a gang-related first-degree murder could be enhanced by 10 years as a violent felony under subdivision (b)(1)(C), "or whether such a murder falls within that subdivision's excepting clause and is governed instead by the 15-year minimum parole eligibility term" of subdivision (b)(5). ( Lopez , supra ,
A unanimous court agreed. The court held, based on the plain language of section 186.22, that where a gang-related felony falls within subdivision (b)(5)'s alternative penalty provision, the trial court must sentence the defendant under subdivision (b)(5). It cannot impose a (b)(1)(C) enhancement instead. Thus, the excepting clause in subdivision (b)(1) barred the trial court from imposing a gang enhancement-specifically (b)(1)(C)-to maximize the defendant's overall sentence. ( Lopez , supra , 34 Cal.4th at pp. 1004, 1006,
Since Lopez construed subdivision (b)(1) in 2005, the Legislature has amended the STEP Act several times. It has never changed the excepting
4. Remedy
4.1. We may modify the judgment on appeal.
The typical remedy under Rodriguez is to reverse and remand for resentencing. ( Rodriguez , supra ,
We therefore modify the judgment as follows. The gang enhancement imposed on count 4 under section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1)(A), is modified to an enhancement for subdivision (b)(1)(B). The subdivision (b)(1)(B) enhancement is stayed.
4.2. The abstract of judgment in case BA369882 must be amended to reflect the modified sentence.
Under California Rules of Court, rule 4.452, when "a determinate sentence is imposed under section 1170.1(a) consecutive to one or more determinate sentences imposed previously in the same court or in other courts, the court in the current case must pronounce a single aggregate term, as defined in section 1170.1(a), stating the result of combining the previous and current sentences." Though the abstract of judgment in case no. BA369882 complies with that rule, it must be amended to reflect the modified judgment in this case.
As discussed above, on February 17, 2016, defendant was sentenced in the current case (no. BA372403) to an aggregate term of 25 years in state prison. On May 1, 2017, defendant pled no contest in case no. BA369882. On May
The abstract of judgment in case no. BA369882 properly includes the sentence imposed in the current case (no. BA372403), which it designates as count 4N. Upon issuance of remittitur, the incomplete sentence for count 4N and the total time imposed on that abstract of judgment must be updated to reflect defendant's modified sentence.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is modified as follows. The gang enhancement imposed on count 4 under Penal Code section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1)(A), is modified to an enhancement for subdivision (b)(1)(B). The subdivision (b)(1)(B) enhancement is stayed. As modified, the judgment is affirmed.
Upon issuance of our remittitur, the trial court is directed to prepare corrected minute orders consistent with the views expressed in this opinion, amend the abstract of judgment in this case and the abstract of judgment in case no. BA369882 to reflect the judgment as modified, and to send certified copies of the amended abstracts of judgment to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The clerk of this court is directed to send a copy of the opinion and remittitur to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. ( Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.272(d)(2).)
WE CONCUR:
DHANIDINA, J.
Notes
In some court documents, defendant is referred to as Trevaun Renald Francis.
All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.
Effective January 1, 2012, former section 12034 (count 3) was recodified without substantive change at section 26100. (Stats. 2010, ch. 711, § 4 [repealed]; Stats. 2010, ch. 711, § 6 [reenacted].)
Count 2 only applied to co-defendant Jean Palacios, who is not a party to this appeal.
Although the on-bail allegation pertaining to case no. YJ33464 was neither found true nor imposed by the court, the minute orders do not reflect that it was dismissed. Upon issuance of our remittitur, the trial should correct the minute orders to reflect dismissal of this allegation.
On our own motion, we take judicial notice of two court records in superior court case no. BA369882-the abstract of judgment filed on May 15, 2017, and the minute order of May 4, 2017. (Evid. Code, §§ 452, subd. (d)(1), 459, subd. (a).) In light of defendant's subsequent no-contest plea in case no. BA369882, the court's failure to stay execution of the on-bail enhancement in this case was harmless. (§ 12022.1, subd. (d) [on-bail enhancement requires conviction of both original and new offenses]; People v. Meloney (2003)
All undesignated subdivision references are to section 186.22.
Defendant's conviction for assault with a semiautomatic firearm (§ 245, subd. (b) ) qualified as a serious felony under section 1192.7, subdivisions (c)(8), (c)(23), and (c)(31). The jury found the subdivision (b)(1)(B) allegation true.
Instead, the People observe that unlike a (b)(1)(B) enhancement, the (b)(1)(A) enhancement was not predicated on personal firearm use, and as such, did not violate the multiple-enhancement prohibition of section 1170.1, subdivision (f)-the provision at issue in Rodriguez and Le. We offer no opinion of that question. Plainly, it is not enough for section 1170.1 to allow the enhancement; the enhancement itself must also apply.
The minimum eligible parole date (MEPD) is the earliest date on which a life prisoner may legally be released on parole. (§ 3046; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 2000, subd. (b)(67).) An inmate is entitled to a parole suitability hearing one year before his MEPD. (§ 3041, subd. (a)(2).) While a subdivision (b)(5) enhancement could be a factor tending to show a defendant is unsuitable for parole (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 2402 ; People v. Johnson, supra,
We note that the abstract of judgment in case no. BA369882 contains a clerical error for count 5. According to the minute order of May 4, 2017, the court imposed four years for count 5-the mid-term of two years plus two years for the on-bail enhancement, to run concurrently to the rest of the sentence. The abstract erroneously indicates that the court imposed six years for count 5-the mid-term of four years plus two years for the on-bail enhancement. (People v. Mitchell (2001)
Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.
