Lead Opinion
In this case, we decide whether Penal Code
Factual and Procedural Background
A criminal complaint filed on July 30, 1999, charged Seung Hyun Noh (Noh) with seven counts of receiving stolen property. (§ 496, subd. (a).) On September 11, 1999, Seneca Insurance Company (Seneca) posted a bail bond to secure Noh’s release from custody. The bond provided that Noh would “appear ... to answer any [charge] in any accusatory pleading based upon the acts supporting the complaint filed against him . . . and if convicted, [would| appear for pronouncement ofjudgment or grant of probation,” or if Noh failed to appear, Seneca would pay $70,000 to the State of California. On May 23, 2000, Noh entered a guilty plea on five of the seven charged counts. The court ordered Noh to appear on June 21, 2000, for sentencing and permitted him to remain free on bail. Noh failed to appear for sentencing, and the court issued a bench warrant and ordered Seneca’s bail bond forfeited.
On November 15, 2000, Seneca movеd to vacate forfeiture and exonerate bail. Seneca argued that, after Noh entered his guilty plea, the trial court should have proceeded in accordance with section 1166 before permitting Noh to remain free on bail. Seneca further asserted that section 1166 required the court to conduct an evidentiary hearing and make findings of fact with respect to five considerations, including public safety and the probability of Noh’s failing to appear for judgment. Seneca argued the court’s failure to comply with section 1166 was a jurisdictional error that exonerated bail by operation of law. In other words, because the court failed to follow the procedures set forth in section 1166—procedures that might have led the court to commit Noh to custody following his plea—Seneca contended it should not be held responsible for Noh’s failure to appear. In opposition, the People claimed Seneca’s reliance on section 1166 was misplaced because the statute governs only bail following a “verdict” in a contested trial and has no application to bail following a plea of guilty.
On December 13, 2000, after hearing argument and considering the legislative history of section 1166, the trial court denied Seneca’s motion to
Discussion
Section 1166, as amended in 1999, provides: “If a general verdict is rendered against the defendant, or a special verdict is given, he or she must be remanded, if in custody, or if on bail he or she shall be committed to the proper officer of the county to await the judgment of the court upon the verdict, unless, upon considering [1] the protection of the public, [2] the seriousness of the offense charged and proven, [3] the previous criminal record of the defendant, [4] the probability of the defendant failing to appear for the judgment of the court upon the verdict, and [5] public safety, the court concludes the evidence supports its decision to allow the defendant to remain out on bail. When committed, his or her bail is exonerated, or if money is deposited instead of bail it must be refunded to the defendant or to the person or persons found by the court to have deposited said money on behalf of said defendant.” (Italics added.) Prior to the 1999 amendment, section 1166 stated only that, after conviction by verdict, an on-bail defendant “may be committed to the proper officer of the county.” (Stats. 1935, ch. 657, § 5, p. 1814, italics added.) Thus, the former version of section 1166 gave the trial court unguided discretion as to whether to commit an on-bail defendant to custody or permit him or her to remain free. The 1999 amendment, however, requires the court to commit the defendant to custody unless, after considering five factors, the court concludes the evidence supports a decision to release the defendant on bаil.
In general, a person is convicted either by verdict or by guilty plea, and the term “verdict” refers to a jury verdict. A finding of guilt in a criminal case is made only “by verdict of a jury, . . . by a finding of the court in a case where a jury has been waived, or by a plea of guilty” (§ 689, italics added), and a court’s finding “shall be in substantially the form prescribed for the general verdict of a jury” (§ 1167). Section 1166 states that the section applies only to proceedings after a trial and verdict, not proceedings involving a guilty plea. The section makes no express reference to guilty
Part 2 of the Penal Code, which begins at section 681, relates to criminal procedure. The statutes proceed in a logical, consecutive fashion through the stages of a typical criminal case, starting with the indictment (§ 940 et seq.) and then addressing pleadings (§ 948 et seq.), arraignment (§ 976 et seq.), pretrial matters (§ 995 et seq.), plea (§ 1016 et seq.), trial (§ 1065 et seq.), verdict (§ 1147 et seq.), sentencing (§ 1170 et seq.), judgment (§ 1191 et seq.), and appeals (§ 1235 et seq.). The provisions governing Noh’s guilty plea appear in part 2, title 6, which relates to pretrial matters. In contrast, section 1166 appears in part 2, title 7, which relates to matters that arise after the start of trial and before judgment. Within title 7, chapter 1 governs challenges to the jury, chapter 2 governs the trial itself, chapter 3 governs the conduct of the jury after the cause is submitted to them, and chapter 4—which includes section 1166—governs the jury’s verdict or findings. Chapter 4 first addresses the two types of verdict, general and special (§ 1150 et seq.), and explains what the trial court should do in the case of an ambiguous verdict (§§ 1161, 1162) or an acquittal (§ 1165). Then, in section 1166, chapter 4 describes what the court should do when the jury returns a “verdict . . . against the defendant.”
This context clearly indicates that section 1166 refers to proceedings following a contested trial and verdict. When the drafters of the Penal Code reached the chapter in which section 1166 appears, they simply were not talking about pleas—they were talking about posttrial verdicts—and we would need to distort the logical structure of the Penal Code to relate section 1166 to pleas. Moreover, section 1166 works in tandem with section 1129, which appears in chapter 2 of the same title. Under section 1129, a trial court
From its context, section 1166 clearly relates to convictions by verdict, not guilty pleas. Seneca, however, argues that section 1166 is ambiguous because of the frequency with which criminal cases are now resolved by guilty plea. Seneca reasons that, with so many cases resulting in guilty pleas and comparatively few cases reaching the verdict stage, the Legislature could not reasonably have enacted a provision governing custody following a verdict and not have enacted a comparable provision governing custody following a guilty plea.
The gap that Seneca identifies in the statutory scheme may be because the Penal Code was first enacted at a time when guilty pleas were less common than they are today. Nevertheless, as early as 1930, the Court of Appeal held that, despite thе absence of a specific statute on point, trial courts may in their discretion allow an on-bail defendant who pleads guilty to remain free on bail pending sentencing and judgment. In People v. Fidelity & Deposit Co. (1930)
Both Seneca and the dissent interpret Fidelity as expressly holding that guilty pleas fall within the scope of section 1166. They also cite People v. Scott (1960)
We agree that the 1999 amendment to section 1166 gave new significance to the issue presented here, but we do not think section 1166 has historically applied to guilty pleas. The Fidelity court did not hold that guilty pleas fall within the scope of section 1166, and that holding would have made little sense in light of the plain language of section 1166 and its placement in the chapter of the Penal Code governing verdicts. Instead, the Fidelity court cited section 1166 as an example of an analogous situation in which a convicted defendant remains free on bail pending sentencing and judgment. We think Seneca and the dissent err in reading the Fidelity decision more broadly. As for People v. Scott, supra,
The Court of Appeal found section 1166 to be ambiguous, warranting consideration of legislative history, because a guilty plea is generally equivalent to a guilty verdict. The court reasoned, in light of this general equivalence, that “the absence of any reference to guilty pleas in section 1166 creates an ambiguity.” We find no ambiguity when the context of the statute is considered. The absence of any reference to guilty pleas in section 1166 merely reflects that section’s placement in the Penal Code chapter governing verdicts, not pleas. Of course, a defendant can plead guilty after a trial has begun, but the logical place in the Penal Code for the Legislature to have addressed release on bail following a guilty plea is in the section governing pleas, not in the section governing the jury’s verdict at the close of trial. Hence, we see no ambiguity inherent in the Legislature’s failing to discuss guilty pleas in section 1166.
Moreover, the equivalence of guilty pleas and guilty verdicts relates to their legal effect, and our statements finding them to be equivalent are therefore contextual. (See, e.g., People v. Valladoli (1996)
In addition, as a practical matter, the disparate treatment of persons who plead guilty as compared to persons convicted by verdict is not as pronounced as Seneca suggests. The factors listed in section 1166 replicate, almost verbatim, the factors that apply, under section 1275, subdivision (a), when a judge or magistrate initially sets bail, and in fact, the Legislature appears to have modeled the 1999 amendment to section 1166 on section 1275, subdivision (a). Specifically, section 1275, subdivision (a), provides: “In setting, reducing, or denying bail, the judge or magistrate shall take into consideration [1] the protection of the public, [2] the seriousness of the offense charged, [3] the previous criminal record of the defendant, and [4] the probability of his or her appearing at trial or hearing of the case. [5] The public safety shall be the primary consideration.” Thereforе, in the case of all on-bail defendants, including an on-bail defendant who pleads guilty, the factors listed in section 1166 were already considered at the time bail was initially set, and they were found to weigh in favor of release. The only new factor after the defendant pleads guilty is the fact of the conviction itself, and it is that factor, considered in light of the others, that the court must evaluate when deciding whether the defendant should remain free on bail. But section 1166 does not have to apply in order for a court to take the defendant’s conviction into account when exercising its discretion.
The dissent asserts, based in large part on our holding in People v. Statum (2002)
Moreover, unlike section 1166, the statute that was at issue in Statum (§ 1238, subd. (a)(6)) does not fall in a chapter of the Penal Code that (1) specifically focuses on the verdict or finding after a contested trial and addresses no other subjects; (2) carefully delineates the various types of verdict a jury might render after completing its deliberations (§§ 1150, 1151, 1152, 1153, 1154, 1158, 1158a, 1160); and then (3) describes what should follow in the case of each type of jury verdict (§§ 1155, 1156, 1157, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1164, 1165, 1166, 1168), expressly distinguishing jury verdicts from other ways a defendant might be convicted, such as findings by the court. (§§ 1165, 1167.) While the use of the term “verdict” in other places in the Penal Code might suggest a broad interpretation that would reasonably include guilty pleas, its use in the context of part 2, title 7, chapter 4 of that code can only reasonably mean one thing: a verdict given at the conclusion of a contested trial.
The Court of Appeal also relied on the oft-repeated rule that, because the law disfavors forfeitures, courts interpret bail forfeiture laws in favor of the surety. (See, e.g., People v. United Bonding Ins. Co. (1971)
In conclusion, we find no ambiguity in section 1166 in light of the context in which the provision appears. To concede that meaning must be determined from context does not indicate that a provision is ambiguous. Many
But even were resort to legislative history justified, we must be careful not to misuse it. It is notoriously easy to support any number of conflicting propositions by selectively quoting legislative history. To be persuasive, such an exercise must offer something more compelling than, as one critical jurist describes it, “ ‘looking over a crowd and picking out your friends.’ ” (Wald, Some Observations on the Use of Legislative History in the 1981 Supreme Court Term (1983) 68 Iowa L.Rev. 195, quoting a conversation with Judge Harold Leventhal.) But this pick-out-your-friends strategy is the best the dissent offers. The two obscure references to guilty pleas on which the dissent relies (see dis. opn., post, at pp. 967-968) occur on page 4 of two nearly identical committee reports, in a section of the reports quoting background provided by the bill’s author. Moreover, these two reports are among a collection of nearly a dozen that otherwise make no mention of guilty pleas, and several of the reports, including the two the dissent relies on, describe the scope of section 1166 as applying to defendants “convicted after a trial” or “found guilty after trial.” (See, e.g., Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (Reg. Sess. 1999-2000) Mar. 23, 1999, p. 1; Assem. Republican Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (Reg. Sess. 1999-2000) as amended Aug. 17, 1999, p. 1; Sen. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (Reg. Sess. 1999-2000) as amended July 13, 1999, p. 2; Sen. Rules Com., Off. of Sen. Floor Analyses, Rep. on Assem. Bill No. 476 (Reg. Sess. 1999-2000) as amended Aug. 17, 1999, p. 2.) Therefore, the only significance of the legislative history is that it is inconclusive.
The dissent complains that interpreting the statute as we do is bad public policy because the bail requests of those defendants who plead guilty will not be subject to the requirements of section 1166. We are not prepared to say, as the dissent does (dis. opn., post, at pp. 974-976), that judicial discretion in this context is bad policy.
Accordingly, we conclude section 1166 does not apply where the defendant’s conviction is by guilty plea. Because section 1166 does not apply, Seneca’s arguments—that the trial court should have proceeded in accordance with that section and that its failure to do so еxonerated bail as a matter of law—are without merit. Seneca’s bail bond constitutes a contract
Conclusion
The Court of Appeal erred in finding section 1166 applicable where a defendant’s conviction is based on a guilty plea rather than a verdict. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal and remand with instructions to affirm the trial court’s order denying Seneca’s motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate bail.
George, C. J., Kennard, J., Baxter, J., Werdegar, J., and Moreno, J., concurred.
Notes
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.
Dissenting Opinion
In 1999, the Legislature amended Penal Code section 1166
The majority’s analysis is flawed and its conclusion is contrary to the Legislature’s intent. In reaching its conclusion, the majority does not maintain that the statute’s plain meaning requires us to construe section 1166 so as to render its increased protection inapplicable to the great majority of convicted defendants. On the contrary, the majority concedes that the statutory language is ambiguous and that the term “verdict” sometimes encompasses guilty pleas. Instead, focusing on a single extrinsic aid—statutory context—the majority asserts that the only reasonable construction of section 1166 excludes defendants who are not convicted by jury verdict. In my view, other extrinsic aids that the majority virtually ignores are far more illuminating and compel the conclusion that the Legislature both understood and
I. The Language of Section 1166 Can Be Reasonably Construed to Apply to Convictions by Guilty Plea.
“[I]n any case involving statutory interpretation, our fundamental task ... is to determine the Legislature’s intent so as to effectuate the law’s purpose. [Citation.] We begin by examining the statute’s words, giving them a plain and commonsense meaning. [Citation.]” (People v. Murphy (2001)
Section 1166 has more than one reasonable construction, and is therefore ambiguous. Given the statute’s use of the term “verdict,” the majority’s construction of section 1166—that it applies only to jury verdicts—is arguably reasonable. However, under a long line of California cases, the term “verdict” can also be reasonably construed as encompassing guilty pleas. In People v. Statum (2002)
Notably, the majority expressly concedes that the language of section 1166 is ambiguous. After discussing Statum, the majority states: “We concede that, in many contexts, a guilty plea is not different from a guilty verdict. . . .” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 962.) The majority also states that the term “verdict” in other Penal Code provisions may be “reasonably” construed to “include guilty pleas.” (Ibid) The majority also implicitly concedes the statute’s ambiguity by concluding that section 1166 has only one reasonable construction when viewed in its statutory “context” (maj. opn., ante, at pp. 958-959, 960, 963, 962), i.e., its “placement” within the Penal Code. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 958.) A statute’s placement within “the statutory scheme” is one of the “extrinsic aids” we look to only after concluding that the statute “is ambiguous . . . .” (Hughes, supra,
II. Extrinsic Aids Establish That the Legislature Both Understood and Intended That Section 1166 Would Apply to Convictions by Guilty Plea.
Because the statutory language is ambiguous, we may properly look to “a variety of extrinsic aids” to determine the Legislature’s intent. (People v. Woodhead (1987)
A. The Legislative History Indicates a Legislative Intent That Section 1166 Be Applied to Defendants Who Plead Guilty.
As the majority explains, before 1999, section 1166 gave a trial court unguided discretion to permit a defendant to remain out on bail after conviction. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 957.) The 1999 amendment requires a court to commit a defendant after conviction “unless, upon considering” specified factors, it “concludes the evidence supports its decision to allow the defendant to remain out on bail.” (§ 1166.) Several legislative analyses explained that the amendment was necessary because “individuals who are convicted pose a much greater risk of flight if released [on bail] prior to sentencing. The intent of this [amendment] is to assure that a judge has an opportunity to examine the record of a convicted individual prior to release and pending sentencing if that individual is out on bail.” (Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Rep. on Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) Mar. 23, 1999, p. 2, italics added; see also Sen. Com. on Public Safety, Rep. on Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) July 13, 1999, p. 5.) Another legislative analysis explained that the amendment is “intended to secure convicted parties immediately rather than let them free on bail рossibly to escape authorities . . . .” (Cal. Dept. of Finance, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) Apr. 17, 1999, p. 2.)
Nothing in the legislative history supports the majority’s speculation that the Legislature “may have concluded that” a defendant convicted by guilty plea “is less likely to pose a flight risk or a danger to public safety” than a defendant convicted by jury verdict. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 960-961.) On the contrary, two legislative analyses that expressly focused on the amendment’s purpose specifically cited the flight risk of defendants who plead guilty. Those analyses explained: “[T]he intent of this bill is to assure that a judge has an opportunity to examine the record of a convicted individual
The majority’s explanation for virtually ignoring this legislative history is both baseless and unpersuasive. The majority first asserts that it “need not consider legislative history” because section 1166 is not ambiguous “in light of [its] context.” (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 962-963.) However, as I have already explained, a statute’s context is but one of several extrinsic aids we look to where a statute is ambiguous. As we have expressly held, where a statute is ambiguous, “[t]o discern legislative intent, we must examine the legislative history and statutory context of the act under scrutiny. [Citations.]” (Sand v. Superior Court (1983)
B. Prior Judicial Construction Indicates a Legislative Intent That Section 1166 Be Applied to Defendants Who Plead Guilty.
Judicial construction of section 1166 strongly reinforces the conclusion that the legislative history supports: when the Legislature amended section 1166 in 1999, it understood and intended that the amended statute’s increased public protection would apply to defendants convicted by guilty plea. In People v. Fidelity & Deposit Co. (1930)
Thirty years later, in People v. Scott (1960)
Like the legislative history, these decisions—and the Legislature’s reaction to them—strongly support the conclusion that the Legislature understood and intended that the increased public protection it was providing by amending section 1166 in 1999 would apply to defendants convicted by both guilty pleas and court findings after nonjury trials. During the almost 70 years between Fidelity and the 1999 amendment, no case expressed a different view оr even suggested that section 1166 does not apply under these circumstances. Moreover, the Legislature amended section 1166 in 1935, only five years after Fidelity, but did nothing at that time to undermine or reverse Fidelity’s application of the statute to a conviction by guilty plea. (Stats. 1935, ch. 657, § 5, p. 1814.) Nor did the Legislature do anything to undermine or reverse Fidelity—or Scott’s application of section 1166 to convictions by court findings after nonjury trials—when the Legislature again amended the statute in 1999. The Legislature’s lack of action in this regard raises a presumption that it endorsed Fidelity and Scott, because “ ‘[w]hen the Legislature amends a statute without changing those portions . . . that have previously been construed by the courts, the Legislature is presumed to have known of and to have acquiesced in the previous judicial construction.’ [Citations.]” (People v. Atkins (2001)
The majority incorrectly discounts the significance of these decisions. According to the majority, Fidelity “did not hold that guilty pleas fall within the scope of section 1166,” but merely “cited section 1166 as an example of an analogous situation in which a convicted defendant remains free on bail pending sentencing and judgment.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 960.) As I have already demonstrated, the majority is substantively incorrect; the Fidelity court directly relied on section 1166 in determining a court’s power and a surety’s rights with respect to the bail status of a defendant convicted by guilty plea. In any event, the majority’s response focuses on the wrong question. Our task here is not, as the majority appears to assume, to think up some new way now to distinguish Fidelity and render it inapposite, but is to determine what the Legislature understood and intended when it amended section 1166 in 1999. Notwithstanding the arcane and arguable distinction the majority now attempts to draw, when the Legislature amended section 1166 in 1999, it no doubt understood Fidelity as applying section 1166 to a defendant who pleads guilty. The majority similarly focuses on the wrong question in its treatment of Scott. The question is not, as the majority suggests, whether Scott “was correct” to apply section 1166 to a defendant convicted by court finding after a nonjury trial (maj. opn., ante, at p. 960), but whether, in light of Scott, the Legislature understood and intended section 1166 to apply only to defendants convicted by. jury verdict. Both decisions support the conclusion that the Legislature intended the statute to have a broader reach.
Also supporting this сonclusion are the appellate decisions I have already discussed that applied section 1238 to guilty pleas based on their legal equivalence with jury verdicts. (People v. Eberhardt, supra, 186 Cal.App.3d at pp. 1119-1124; People v. Hames, supra,
Again, in discounting the significance of these decisions, the majority errs both substantively and in its analytical approach. Substantively, the majority is incorrect in asserting that “the equivalence of guilty pleas and guilty verdicts” that both this court and the Courts of Appeal have identified “relates” only to their “substantive legal effect,” not to “procedure.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 960.) Here, we are certainly no more “concerned with procedure” (ibid.) than were the courts that determined that section 1238 authorizes the People to appeal after a defendant pleads guilty.
As previously explained, the Legislature passed the 1999 amendment to section 1166—which requires a court to commit a defendant after conviction unless it concludes the evidence supports its decision to allow the defendant to remain out on bail—because, in the Legislature’s view, the risk that a defendant will flee substantially increases after conviction. The Legislature wanted “to assure that a judge has an opportunity to examine the record of a convicted individual prior to release and pending sentencing if that individual is out on bail.” (Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Rep. on Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) Mar. 23, 1999, p. 2.) As we long ago recognized, the “ ‘great majority’ ” of convictions are obtained by guilty plea. (People v. West (1970)
By contrast, the majority substantially defeats the Legislature’s purpose by adopting a construction that renders section 1166 inapplicable to the great majority of defendants who are convicted—those who plead guilty. Moreover, although the majority purports not to decide any question regarding convictions after nonjury trials (maj. opn., ante, at p. 960), its analysis necessarily further defeats the Legislature’s purpose by rendering section 1166 inapplicable under these circumstances, because such convictions occur by court “finding,” not by jury “verdict.” (§ 689.)
The majority offers no public policy justification for its construction. It speculates, without basis, that the Legislature “may have concluded that” a defendant convicted by guilty plea “is less likely to pose a flight risk or a danger to public safety” than a defendant convicted by jury verdict. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 960-961.) As I have already explained, nothing in the legislative history supports this speculation. Moreover, even were the majority correct, the majority fails to explain why the Legislature would want to allow courts to release defendants convicted by guilty plea without first going through the process section 1166 mandates to protect public safety. Thus, although the majority can “think of’ a distinction (maj. opn., ante, at p. 962) that, in its view, is not “completely baseless” (maj. opn., ante, at p. 961), the majority offers no reason why the Legislature would want to draw this distinction. In short, from the perspective of the public policy the Legislature has declared, the majority’s construction is both unjustified and unjustifiable.
For several reasons, the majority’s reasoning is unpersuasive. First and foremost, it is inconsistent with both the Legislature’s view and purpose in amending section 1166. As explained above, the Legislature viewed “individuals who are free on bail after conviction” by verdict “or guilty plea” as “pos[ing] a greater flight risk than other persons on bail,” and it therefore amended section 1166 to require courts to consider the fact of conviction before allowing convicted defendants to remain on bail. (Sen. Rules Com., Off. of Sen. Floor Analyses, 3d reading analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) p. 4, italics added; Sen. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 476 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) July 13, 1999, p. 5, italics added.) Contrary to this intent, the majority’s holding leaves it to the trial court’s discretion to consider the fact of conviction in determining whether to permit defendants convicted by guilty plea to remain out on bail. Moreover, the majority’s observation that section 1166 “does not have to apply” for a court to take this factor into account (maj. opn., ante, at p. 961) is of no consequence, because the same is true of every factor section 1166 specifies. The Legislature’s purpose in amending section 1166 was to make consideration of all of the specified factors mandatory, not discretionary.
The second flaw in the majority’s reasoning is that the differences between section 1166 and section 1275 in terms of the factors a court must consider are both greater and more significant than the majority indicates. Whereas section 1275, subdivision (a), requires courts to consider “the seriousness of the offense charged” and “the probability of [the defendant’s] appearing at trial or hearing of the case,” section 1166 requires courts to consider “the seriousness of the offense charged and proven” and “the probability of the defendant failing to appear for the judgment of the court . . . ,”
Finally, and unfortunately, rather than respond to my argument, the majority completely miscasts and misrepresents my position in an apparent attempt to arouse emotions against it. The majority states my view to be that “judicial discretion in this context is bad policy.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 963.) However, I make no judgment on this pоlicy question, because it is not my job to do so here. My position is that the Legislature has declared public policy in this context and, as I have explained, the majority’s construction defeats the public policy the Legislature has declared. The fact remains that the majority offers no reason why the Legislature would have wanted to exempt the great majority of convicted defendants from a mandatory process that the Legislature thought was necessary to protect public safety. Thus, the majority offers no valid response to my actual position—that the majority’s construction defeats public policy as declared by the Legislature.
Finally, I consider the extrinsic aid on which the majority places sole reliance: section 1166’s placement within the statutory scheme. According to the majority, given that context, the term “verdict” in section 1166 “can only reasonably mean one thing: a verdict given at the conclusion of a contested trial.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 962.)
For several reasons, the majority is incorrect. First, as I have already explained, statutory context is only one of many extrinsic aids to which we look in construing an ambiguous statute. Nothing supports the majority’s decision to focus on this extrinsic aid to the exclusion of all others. Second, the majority vastly overstates the significance of the statute’s context. The majority emphasizes section 1166’s inclusion in a title of the Penal Code addressing “matters that arise after the start of trial and before judgment.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 958.) However, a defendant may plead guilty at any time, including, as the majority notes, “after a trial has begun.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 960.) Moreover, the same chapter that contains section 1166 also addresses disposition by court findings in a nonjury trial. (§§ 1158, 1165, 1167.) Thus, section 1166’s placement within the Penal Code does little, if anything, to indicate that the statute’s language renders the statute applicable only to defendants convicted by jury verdict. It certainly does not, as the majority asserts, “clearly indicate[]” that this is the statute’s only reasonable interpretation. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 958.)
Finally, and most importantly, the majority’s exclusive focus on context defeats our very goal in considering extrinsic aids: to “ ‘select the construction that comports most closely with the apparent intent of the Legislature, with a view to promoting rather than defeating the general purpose of the statute, and [tо] avoid an interpretation that would lead to absurd consequences.’” (People v. Sinohui, supra,
III. Conclusion
Although I disagree with the majority’s holding that section 1166 does not apply in this case, ultimately, I do not necessarily disagree with the majority’s result. I have serious doubt that a trial court’s failure to follow section
A11 further statutory references are to the Penal Code.
It is therefore not surprising that the most the majority can say to defend its conclusion is that a distinction between defendants who plead guilty and those convicted by jury verdict “is not completely baseless.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 961.)
Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. v. Superior Court (1999)
Ironically, in construing a statute for a unanimous court in Cornette v. Department of Transportation (2001)
Nor does anything in the legislative history suggest that the Legislature viewed defendants convicted after nonjury trials as posing less of a flight risk than defendants convicted by jury verdict. However, the majority’s analysis necessarily renders section 1166’s protection inapplicable to defendants convicted after nonjury trials, because such convictions occur by court “finding,” not by jury “verdict.” (§ 689.) Thus, the majority errs in stating that “a person is convicted either by verdict or by guilty plea.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 957.)
Because we decided People v. Statum, supra,
In People v. Valladoli (1996)
SeveraI legislative reports emphasized that the 1999 amendment to section 1166 “direct[s] a court to consider,” among other factors, the defendant’s “crime of conviction.” (Sen. Com.