Category Archives: Statutory interpretation

Amelioration, Appellate Principles, Elements of crime, Jury instructions, Sentencing, Statutory interpretation, Vicarious liability

Case 001049

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

The trial court erred in denying the defendant’s petition at the prima facie stage. The jury instructions on aiding and abetting, implied malice, and lying-in-wait murder allowed for the jury to convict him of murder under a theory by which malice was imputed to him based solely on his participation in the crime.

First Holding:

SB 1437 became effective on January 1, 2019. SB 1437 amended the felony murder rule and the natural and probable consequences doctrine, as it relates to murder, to ensure that murder liability is not imposed on a person who is not the actual killer, did not act with the intent to kill, or was not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life.

It amended section 188, which defines malice, and section 189, which defines the degrees of murder to address felony-murder liability, and it added what is now section 1172.6, which provides a procedure by which those convicted of murder can seek retroactive relief if the changes in the law would affect their previously sustained convictions.

Accordingly, section 188 now provides that, except as stated in section 189(e), in order to be convicted of murder, a principal in a crime shall act with malice aforethought. Malice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his or her participation in a crime. The change reflects the Legislature’s intent that a person’s culpability for murder must be premised upon that person’s own actions and subjective mens rea.

Additionally, section 189 previously stated that all murder committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, various specified crimes, is murder of the first degree. SB 1437 amended section 189 to add subdivision (e), which provides that a participant in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of one of the enumerated feloines in which a death occurs is liable for murder only if:

(1) The person was the actual killer; or

(2) The person was not the actual killer, but, with the intent to kill, aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, solicited, requested, or assisted the actual killer in the commission of murder in the first degree; or

(3) The person was a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life, as described in section 190.2(d).

Authority:

PEN 188

PEN 189

Second Holding:

Section 1172.6 sets forth procedures on how the court is consider the petitions.

There is a first stage review to determine whether the petition states fact that demonstrate a prima facie entitlement to relief. The court is not permitted to do fact-finding at that stage, but it may review certain portions of the record to determine whether the record establishes that the defendant is ineligible for relief as a matter of law.

If a prima facie case appears from the petition, the court must then hold an evidentiary hearing, at which the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty under current law

Authority:

PEN 1172.6

People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 971-972

Third Holding:

In SB 775, effective January 1, 2022, the Legislature amended the language of section 1172.6 to expand the scope of the petitioning procedure, in part, by expressly permitting persons convicted of attempted murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine to petition for relief.

Authority:

PEN 1172.6

Fourth Holding:

There has been a split of authority on whether a defendant is ineligible for relief under section 1172.6 if the defendant could have raised the the instructional argument in a prior appeal. (Gary note: For the main part, the discussions in the split cases were over the impact of various jury instructions that were given in the original trials, and whether the failure to raise those arguments gave rise to issue preclusion in determining the applicability of section 1172.6. If you are interested in reading the development and evolution of those cases, Lopez might be a good read.)

Lopez resolved the dispute by holding that a defendant is not barred by issue preclusion. The mere fact that a petitioner could have raised an analogous … claim of instructional error at trial or in his original appeal does not render him categorically ineligible for relief under section 1172.6. The primary and overarching purpose of SB 1437’s scheme is to identify and to afford resentencing relief, in qualifying cases, to those who may have been convicted under imputed-malice murder theories.

Authority:

People v. Lopez (2026) 19 Cal.5th 639, 658, 661

Fifth Holding:

Resentencing courts should not ignore potentially ambiguous or even openly flawed instructions when evaluating a petitioner’s prima facie allegations merely because these flaws were not raised in a prior appeal. Rather, the section 1172.6 resentencing court should address on the merits the alleged flaws or ambiguities in instructions that may have resulted in conviction under now invalid theories of imputed malice.

After considering Lopez, we now agree with the defendant that the record here does not establish he is categorically ineligible for relief. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order denying defendant’s petition for recall and resentencing at the prima facie stage and remand for the court to issue an order to show cause and hold a hearing pursuant to section 1172.6(d).

Authority:

People v. Lopez (2026) 19 Cal.5th 639, 658, 668

Sentencing, Statutory interpretation

Case 001045

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

It was error for the court to decline to award conduct credit on two of the counts, because their offenses were not ineligible for conduct credit at the time they were committed. Further, it was error to issue a no-visitation order on behalf of a person who is no longer a minor.

First Holding:

As a result of amendments to the One Strike Law in 2006 (section 667.61) persons serving an indeterminate sentence under that section are not entitled to credit for time served beyond the actual days they were in custody. There is no reduction for good behavior or performing work.

Although section 667.61 as amended makes no mention of conduct credit, the amendment deleted a previous reference that limited the conduct credit to 15% of the sentence imposed. The legislative history does make it abundantly clear that the intent was to eliminate conduct credit for such persons.

Authority:

Penal Code section 667.61

People v. Dearborne (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 250, 267-268

People v. Adams (2018) 28 Cal.App.5th 170, 182

Second Holding:

The amendment cannot be applied retroactively. Both the federal and the California Constitutions prohibit ex post facto laws. The federal and California ex post facto clauses do not just bar retroactively increased prison terms. They also prohibit any law that retroactively disadvantages the offender by increasing the punishment for crimes committed before the law’s enactment.

Consequently, the ex post facto clauses prohibit any law that constricts the inmate’s opportunity to earn early release and thereby makes more onerous the punishment for crimes committed before its enactment. As it is unclear whether the offenses described in two of the counts were committed before or after the amendment’s effective z People (September 20, 2006, as urgency legislation), conduct credit cannot be denied on those counts.

Authority:

U.S. Const., art. I, sec. 10, cl. 1

Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 9

People v. Rojas (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 1298, 1306

Weaver v. Graham (1981) 450 U.S. 24, 35-36

People v. Flores (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 1171, 1182 [agreeing that a change in law ending the defendant’s ability to earn good conduct credit violated the proscription against ex post facto laws]

Third Holding:

It is the prosecution’s responsibility to prove to the jury that the charged offenses occurred on or after the effective date of the statute providing for the defendant’s punishment. Consequently, when the evidence at trial does not establish that fact, the defendant is entitled to be sentenced under the formerly applicable statutes.

Authority:

People v. Hiscox (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 253, 256, 261 [Verdicts cannot be deemed sufficient to establish the z People of the offenses unless the evidence leaves no reasonable doubt that the underlying charges pertained to events occurred on or after the z People of the punishment’s enactment]

Fourth Holding:

Under section 1202.5, if a defendant is sentenced to prison for committing a lewd act under section 288, and the victim is a child under the age of 18 years, the court shall prohibit all visitation between the defendant and the child victim.

As this section authorizes prohibitions against visitation with a child victim, it has been interpreted to apply only to victims who are under the age of 18 at the time of the contemplated visitation. Here, the victim was in her 20s at the time of sentencing, and the court therefore lacked authority to include her in the no-visitation order.

Authority:

PEN 1202.05

People v. Scott (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 1303, 1323

Elements of crime, Sentencing, Statutory interpretation

Case 001016

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

It was error for the court to issue protective orders, because the defendant was not convicted of a qualifying offense, and the person for whose benefit order was issued was not a victim of the defendant’s crime.

First Holding:

Section 136.2(i)(1) provides authority for the imposition of postconviction protective orders where a defendant is convicted of a qualifying domestic violence offense.

Authority:

PEN 136.2(i)(1)

People v. Garcia (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 887, 901

Second Holding:

Domestic violence is abuse committed against, among other categories of victims, a person with whom the defendant had a dating relationship. Domestic violence is abuse perpetrated against (a) a spouse or former spouse[; (b) a cohabitant or former cohabitant; (c) a person with whom the respondent is having or has had a dating or engagement relationship; (d) a person with whom the respondent has had a child; (e) [a] child of a party; or (f) any other person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree.

“Abuse” is the intentional or reckless causing or attempting to cause bodily injury, or placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to himself or herself, or another. Section 136(3) defines “victim” as any natural person with respect to whom there is reason to believe that any crime as defined under the laws of this state or any other statute or of the United States is being or has been perpetrated or attempted to be perpetrated.

Thus, a postconviction protective order under section 136.2(i)(1) is authorized if: (1) the defendant has been convicted of one (or more) of the statutorily enumerated crimes; and (2) the protected person qualifies as a victim of said crime(s).

Authority:

PEN 13700

FAM 6211

People v. Walts (2025) 112 Cal.App.5th 127, 139

People v. Lopez (2022) 75 Cal.App.5th 227, 237

Third Holding:

Courts do not have inherent authority to issue a criminal protective order absent a statute authorizing such an order.

Authority:

People v. Corrales (2020) 46 Cal.App.5th 283, 286-287

Fourth Holding:

The defendant was not convicted of a domestic violence or other offense that authorized the court to issue a protective order under section 136.2(i)(1). His conviction did not justify a protective order. Nor was the protected person a victim of his crime.

Authority:

People v. Garcia (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 887, 901 [where the defendant’s convictions are not domestic violence offenses, the court does not have statutory authority to impose a postconviction protective order, and it must be stricken]

People v. Pena (2025) 113 Cal.App.5th 640, 648 [the Legislature amended section 136.2(i)(1), in 2018 to specify that a victim is only a victim of the crime the defendant was convicted of committing]

People v. Walts (2025) 112 Cal.App.5th 127, 143 [if there is no reason to believe that an enumerated section 136.2(i)(1) offense for which the defendant was convicted is being or has been perpetrated or attempted to be perpetrated against a particular person, that person is not a victim and may not seek, or be named as protected party by, a protective order under section 136.2(i)(1)]

Abstracts and Minutes, Sentencing, Statutory interpretation

Case 001014

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

Credit for time served should have been recalculated on resentencing following remand in an earlier appeal. There are errors in the abstract of judgment that require correction. We affirm that the defendant’s conduct credit is limited to 15%, even though the court struck the punishment for the enhancements responsible for making the felonies violent felonies.

First Holding:

Any portion of a sentence that a defendant has begun serving based on a judgment that is modified during the imprisonment term must be credited against any sentence the defendant later receives for the same acts.

The sentencing court must recalculate and, in the abstract of judgment, credit against the modified sentence the actual days spent in custody up to that date, plus the conduct credits accrued before the original sentencing.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation then calculates conduct credit for prison time after the original sentencing applying laws specific to persons serving terms in prison.

Authority:

PEN 2900.1

People v. Sek (2022) 74 Cal.App.5th 657, 673

People v. Buckhalter (2001) 26 Cal.4th 20, 23, 33

Second Holding:

Even though on resentencing the court struck the punishment for the enhancements that made the counts of conviction violent felonies as defined in section 667.5(c), the defendant’s conduct credit is still limited to 15% under section 2933.1, which limits conduct credit to 15% to “anyone who is convicted of a felony offense listed in subdivision (c) of section 667.5.”

Authority:

PEN 2933.1

Third Holding:

The definition of the term “convicted” in section 2933.1 is a question of statutory interpretation, which we review de novo.

Our fundamental task in interpreting a statute is to determine the Legislature’s intent so as to effectuate the law’s purpose. We first examine the statute’s words and give them a plain and commonsense meaning. We consider the language of the entire scheme and related statutes, harmonizing the terms when possible.

If the statutory language is susceptible of more than one reasonable interpretation, we may look to extrinsic aids, including the statute’s ostensible purpose, the legislative history, public policy, administrative interpretation, and the pertinent statutory scheme. We will adopt the construction that is more favorable to the defendant but still aligns with the statutory purpose where the language of the statute is ambiguous.

Authority:

People v. Gonzalez (2017) 2 Cal.5th 1138, 1141

People v. Murphy (2001) 25 Cal.4th 136, 142

In re M.M. (2012) 54 Cal.4th 530, 536

In re DeLong (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 562, 568

People v. Manzo (2012) 53 Cal.4th 880, 889

Fourth Holding:

Section 2933.1 does not itself define “convicted,” and the term does not have a uniform meaning in California. It may include the corresponding judgment or refer solely to a verdict or guilty plea—in other words, to the adjudication of guilt. Section 2933.1(b) states the 15 percent limitation applies regardless of under which law the defendant is “sentenced.”

We presume the Legislature did not intend the term “convicted” to refer to a defendant’s “sentence” given its use of the two terms within the same statutory scheme. The court in Pacheco similarly held that striking the punishment associated with an enhancement does not defeat the finding of the truth of the allegation such that the defendant would still be a person “convicted of” a violent felony and subject to the 15 percent limit under section 2933.1. It is the conviction, and not the punishment, that is determinative.

Authority:

People v. Mendoza (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 1030, 1033

People v. Smith (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 741, 760

In re Pacheco (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 1439, 1444-1445

Fifth Holding:

Dismissing or striking an earlier conviction under section 1385 impacts sentencing, but in this case the allegations were not struck or dismissed. Only the punishment was struck.

Authority:

People v. Burke (1956) 47 Cal.2d 45

Sixth Holding:

The minute order and abstract of judgment must be corrected to reflect the court’s oral pronouncement of judgment and the concurrent term imposed for reckless driving. The minute order and abstract of judgment do not reflect the trial court staying the term on count 6 in its original judgment, and should also reflect a two-year concurrent term on count 36. Where there is a discrepancy between the oral pronouncement of judgment and the minute order or the abstract of judgment, the oral pronouncement controls.

Authority:

People v. Zackery (2007) 147 Cal.App.4th 380, 385

Seventh Holding:

The abstract reflects a concurrent one-third the middle term sentence for one of the counts. Concurrent sentences are calculated by using their full terms, not the one-third middle term formula for consecutive sentences. The minute order and abstract of judgment must therefore be corrected to impose a two-year concurrent sentence on count 36.

Authority:

People v. Quintero (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 1152, 1156, fn. 3

Elements of crime, Sentencing, Statutory interpretation

Case 000998

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

We must reverse the defendant’s conviction under section 4501(a) because it duplicates his conviction under section 4500.

First Holding:

The defendant was convicted of section 4500 and 4501. In essence, section 4500 provides that any person serving a life sentence who, with malice aforethought, commits an assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury is punishable by death or life without the possibility of parole. If the victim does not die within a year and a day, the punishment is life without the possibility of parole for nine years.

In essence, section 4501 provides that, except as provided in section 4500, a prisoner who commits an assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury is punishable by two, four, or six years, to be served consecutively.

Authority:

PEN 4500

PEN 4501

Second Holding:

Section 954 allows prosecutors to charge different statements of the same offense, but does not allow a defendant to be convicted for multiple statements of the same offense. A defendant cannot be convicted of two offenses if one is necessarily included in the other or if the legislature intended to define a single offense that can be committed multiple ways–in other words, if the convictions are different statements of the same offense.

Authority:

PEN 954

People v. Vidana (2016) 1 Cal.5th 632, 648-650

Third Holding:

There are two tests to determine whether an uncharged offense is necessarily included within a charged offense: the “elements” test and the “accusatory pleading” test.

Under the elements test, if the statutory elements of the greater offense include all of the statutory elements of the lesser offense, the latter is necessarily included in the former.

Under the accusatory pleading test, if the facts actually alleged in the accusatory pleading include all of the elements of the lesser offense, the latter is necessarily included in the former.

Authority:

People v. Reed (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1224, 1227–1228

Fourth Holding:

To determine if two convictions run afoul of section 954, we consider the elements as well as legislative intent. If one is a necessarily included offense of the other, they are not different offenses. Even if the elements differ, two offenses can be essentially the same if legislative intent shows this is so. We consider the text and structure of the statutes, the elements of the offenses, the punishments, the legislative history, and the historical context of the statutes’ enactment.

Authority:

People v. Vidana (2016) 1 Cal.5th 632, 637-638, 648

People v. Aguayo (2022) 13 Cal.5th 974, 982–983

Fifth Holding:

A defendant may be convicted only of section section 4501(a) or of section 4500, but not both for the same conduct. We direct the trial court to reverse the defendant’s conviction under section 4501(a) and to strike the sentence and any fees imposed in connection with that charge.

Authority:

People v. Nava (2007) 107 Cal.App.5th 624, 626