Error and/or relief
Remand is necessary for the trial court to reconsider whether to strike one of the defendant’s prior convictions.
First Holding:
The defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his Romero motion to strike one of his strikes and sentencing him as a third strike offender because his two prior strike convictions for robbery were based on a single act. In a series of cases, our California Supreme Court has addressed how many strikes should be counted when a defendant has multiple convictions arising from related acts. In Fuhrman, the defendant had multiple strike convictions stemming from an incident in which he stole a car, collided with another car and brandished a gun at that car’s driver, and then forced his way at gunpoint into a truck and made the truck driver take him from the scene. Although the court held that qualifying strike convictions can be brought and tried in the same case and counted as separate strikes, the court left open whether the Three Strikes law allows separate strikes to be imposed for offenses that in a prior proceeding were determined to have been committed as part of an indivisible transaction, and as to which it was concluded that imposition of separate punishment for each offense would constitute multiple punishment proscribed by section 654.
The court addressed that issue in Benson. In that case, the defendant entered an apartment and stabbed its occupant, resulting in strike convictions for residential burglary and assault with intent to commit murder. The court held that crimes sustained in one action and arising from the same facts are separate strikes, even if the crimes were closely connected and punishment on one had been stayed under section 654.
Next, Vargas held that two prior convictions arising out of a single act against a single victim cannot constitute two strikes under the Three Strikes law. The single act in Vargas was forcibly taking the victim’s car, which resulted in convictions for robbery and carjacking.
Finally, while this matter has been pending on appeal, our California Supreme Court issued Shaw, which involved two victims. In that case, the defendant had two prior convictions for gross vehicular manslaughter arising from an incident in which Shaw struck a car, killing two passengers. The court found that its rationale in Vargas applied, notwithstanding that multiple victims were involved.
Authority:
People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497
People v. Fuhrman (1997) 16 Cal.4th 930, 941
People v. Benson (1998) 18 Cal.4th 24, 26
People v. Vargas (2014) 59 Cal.4th 635, 637, 645
People v. Shaw (2025) 18 Cal.5th 1089, 1093
Second Holding:
In this case, the extent of the defendant’s participation in the two felonies alleged as prior strikes is not clear. Did he commit one act as an aiding and abetting getaway driver while others robbed two victims, or did he participate more directly in each of the robberies of two victims? Further, the trial court did not have the benefit of Shaw at the time of sentencing and it therefore may have applied the wrong legal standard, which constitutes an abuse of discretion. We therefore remand this matter to the trial court to reconsider the defendant’s Romero motion.
Authority:
People v. Knoller (2007) 41 Cal.4th 139, 156
People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497