Some Words About Abstracts Of Judgment And Minute Orders
I run across many, many cases where the abstracts of judgment and minute orders are incorrect in ways that could harm the defendants’ interests. CDCR and parole authorities are going to accept what they see on the abstract of judgment as a true and accurate account. Errors might affect an inmate’s housing and job assignments and may even result in denial of the proper calculation for good behavior and work credits, not to mention result in depletion of inmate funds for the repaying of debts no longer or never owed. And the abstract of judgment is part of the record of conviction, which may be relied on when the prosecution decides to seek enhancements to the range available on the current offense because the defendant has been convicted of certain types of crimes in the past. As well as when the court or jury decides whether the allegation is true.
I personally believe attorneys should obtain a copy of the abstract of judgment and minute orders–because minute orders, too, have been seen to contain errors, and they, too, can be used to guide the decisions that affect inmates–and check out their accuracy immediately. Where wrong, it should be brought to the attention of the proper person or court to get the correction.
I do recognize that the paperwork is prepared after the sentencing hearing, so obtaining it would require a little post-judgment effort. But errors are not uncommon. As of the writing of this post, I have collected and summarized just under 860 unpublished opinions that have provided some sort of relief to the defendant. In nearly 140 of those, the abstract or minute order contained information that not only was incorrect, it made the defendant’s plight appear worse than it was. Reflecting fines due that in fact the court waived. Misstating the crime as kidnapping when it was actually false imprisonment. Adding years to the sentence over what was imposed. Shorting the amount of credit for time served ordered by the court.
I’m not suggesting these errors were intentional. They are simply a result of human error in a situation where the clerk must process tons of paperwork, often by marking a checkbox, invariably several hours or maybe days after the event took place, mixed in with several other similar events conducted on the same day. I also recognize that the 860 “victory” cases represent roughly 38% of the total criminal cases I have looked at as of this writing, but that still reflects that about 6% of the criminal cases have abstracts of judgment or minute orders that were incorrect in a way that adversely impacted the defendant.
As an example of how something can go terribly wrong, suppose a defendant was convicted years ago of violating Penal Code section 245, which (at the time in my hypothetical) could be violated by assaulting a person EITHER by use of a deadly weapon OR by means likely to cause great bodily harm, because the then-wording of section 245 started out, “an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm or by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury,” rather than having the two methods separated in different parts of the section as the section now reads.
Decades later, the defendant commits a robbery, only his second offense ever. If the abstract of judgment erroneously indicates that his prior violation of section 245 was by use of a deadly weapon–rather than by means of force, as it actually was (in my hypothetical)–it would appear that the defendant would have a strike, resulting in a doubled sentence. Or if the defendant’s record was a bit worse and that old conviction is seen to count toward a total of two prior strikes, he’s possibly looking at a minimum of 25 years to life, depending on the nature of the new offense. All because of an incorrect abstract of judgment “proving” that he had that as a strike. Isn’t avoiding that risk worth securing a correct abstract of judgment and related minute orders? Okay, I see I’ve bent the planks in my soapbox, so I’ll dismount, for now.
Stop the Presses! Back up on the soapbox! Since the original drafting of this a few months ago (when I was prototyping the website on my own while the real deal was being constructed by my pro), I ran across an unpublished case (Case 000300, so it will be a while before you see that summary) where the abstract of judgment incorrectly stated the defendant had been convicted of a serious or violent felony! The appellate court has ordered its correction, but my, my! That mistake might have resulted in all sorts of problems should the defendant ever be convicted of yet another crime in the future. Sure, I’m certain there are those who think people get what they deserve and shouldn’t complain when their poor judgment results in worse punishment than the law permits. That’s not how I feel, however. There’s enough injustice out there already, and the Legislature has spoken on what the punishment may be. There’s no call for someone to be subjected to beyond what the law permits. Okay, I’m done for now. I’ve worn out the soapbox so much it couldn’t qualify for a derby. Back to summarizing.