Filed 2/18/16

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. ALEX NAVARRO, Defendant and Appellant. G 050974 (Super. Ct. No. P01259)

O P I N I O N

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court o f Orange County,
Dan McNerney, Judge. Reversed

.

Gene D. Vorobyov , under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appe llant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Teresa Torreblanca, Deputy Attorney General s , for Plaintiff and Respondent

.2 A lex Navarro appeals from a post judgment order finding him in violation
of a special condition of parole , special condition No. 89 (the Special Condition), restricting his use of the I nternet

. On appeal , Navarro asserts the S pecial C ondition does not reasonably relate to his criminal conduct or to prevent ing future criminality and is vague and overbroad. The Attorney General argues th e issue is moot because Navarro’s parole has expired and the Special Condition is valid

. While we agree the issue is moot ,

we exercise our discretion to decide the case on its merits as it is one of publ ic importance likely to reoccur. We agree with Navarro the Special C ondition is vague and reverse the postjudgment order

. FACTS

In January 20 09 , Navarro plead ed guilty to attempted kidna pping (Pen. Code, §§ 664, 207, subd. (a); all further statutory references are to the Pen. Code). The
facts of the offense were 19

- year

- old Navarro grabbed the 13

- year

- old victim’s arms at a bus stop and threatened to rape her . Four months later , p ursuan t to the plea agreement,
the trial court sentenced him to one year in jail and three years of formal probation and he agreed to register as a sex ual offender pursuant to section 290. 1 T he trial court later
found Navarr o violated probation, ordered probati on revoked, and sentenced N avarro to 30 months in prison.

Navarro was released on parole in April 2011 subject to various condition s , including the Special Condition , which provid e d the following : “ You shall not use an
ele ctronic bulletin board system, [ I] nternet relay chat channel, instant messaging,
newsg roup, user group, peer to peer; i.e., Na pster, Gnutella, Freenet, etc. This would include any site

- base; i.e., Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo e

- mail, etc., which allows the user to have the ability to surf th e [ I ] nternet undetected. ” Navarro was subject to four other

1 The facts are taken from Navarro’s appeal from the trial court’s denial of his request to withdraw his guilty plea. ( People v. Navarro (June 21, 2010, E048275) [nonpub. opn.].)3

conditions restricting his computer and electronic media use, including special condition No. 90, which prohibited him from using a computer for s exual activity, i.e.,

“ ‘chat[ting],’” e

- mail, us ergroups, newsgroups, and list servers.

Between July 2011 and March 2014, Navar ro violated parole four times. In August 2014, Navarro’s parole officer, Millicent Golz, was notified of a nother possible parole violation. Golz contacted Navarro and took hi s cell phone to search it s content s

. On the cell phone Golz found several social media accounts, including Facebook and Instagram, as well as accounts to dating sites where he was communicating with women.
Golz arrested Navarro.

The parole violation dec ision making instrument (PVDMI) of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Adult Parole Operations (the Department) recommended a response level of least to most intensive
with continue d parole and remedial sanctions. Golz , however, recommended parole

revoc ation and 135 days in custody.

At a hearing in October 2014 , Navarro argued the Special Condition was
overbroad because the offense did not involve the Internet

. T he trial court determined the Special C ondition was vali d and it was reasonably related to the attempted kidnapping because it sought to prevent him from visiting Internet sites where he coul d engage in predatory behavior. The trial court denied Navarro’s request to remove or modify the Special Condition. The court concluded Navarro performed poorly on parole and sentenced him to 180 days and a warded him 146 days of credit. During the pendency of this appeal, Navarro’s parole expire d

. 2

2 In Navarro’s reply brief, filed on June 15, 2015, Navarro’s appellate counsel represents Navarro wa s discharged from parole on April 25, 2015.4 DISCUSSION
I

. Moot The Attorney General requests we dismiss this app eal because Navarro has been released from parole and any decision would be without practical effect

. Navarro argues his release from parole does not render his appeal moot because this case involves issues of public importance likely to reoccur. We agre e with Navarro.

People v. Osorio (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 1408, 1411 ( Osorio ), is instructive. In that case, defe ndant was released on parole with the condition he was not to have any assoc iation with known gang members. ( Id. at p. 1410.) During his peri od of parole, d efendant was arrested while he talk ed with individuals he knew to be gang members. ( I

bi d .) The trial court determined defendant violated parole, revoked parole, and sentenced him to 73 days in jail. ( Id . at p. 1411 ) While his appeal was pending,
defendant was released from custody and his parole expired. ( Ibid

. ) The Osorio court agreed with the Attorney General the issue was moot, but the court exercised its
discretion to consider t he merits of the appeal because the court has the “ disc retion to decide a case that, although moot, poses an issue of broad public interest that is likely to recur.” ( I bi d .) Indeed, “‘Such questions [ of general public concern] do not become moot by reason of the fact that the ensuing judgment may no longer b e binding upon a party to the action.’ [Citation.]” ( In re William M. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 16, 23.)

Navarro’s release from parole eliminated any e ffect our decision may have
had on him, but the underlying issue r elating to the Special Condition is one of b road public interest that is likely to reoccur. The Special Condition is included on a
pre

- printed form issued by the Department . When inmates are to be released on parole,
the D epartment selects special conditions from the pre

- printed form to impose on the inmate during parole based on the individual inmate and the underlying crime. The
inmate must agree to the conditions and sign the pre

- printed form before being released on parole. Since i t is highly probable that another inmate release d on parole wi ll be5

subject to the Special Condition and the identical issue could be raised again , w e exercise
our discretion to determine th is appeal on its merits despite the issue being moot

. II . Reasonably Related

Relying on In re Stevens (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 1228 ( Stevens ), Navarro contends the Special C ondition is invalid because it does not reasonably relate to the underlying crime or to prevent ing future crimin al conduct. We disagree

.

“Parole conditions, like conditions of probation, must be reasonable since parolees retain ‘constitutional protection against arbitrary and oppressive official action.’ [Citation.] Conditions of parole must be reasonably related to the compelling state interest of fostering a law

- abiding lifestyle in the parolee. [Citat ion.] Thus, a condition that bars lawful activity will be upheld only if the prohibited conduct either 1) has a relationship to the crime of which the offender was convicted, or 2) is reasonably related
to deter fut ure criminality. [Citation.]” ( Steven s , supra, 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 1234.) We review the imposition of parole conditions for an abuse of discretion. ( See People v. Martinez (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 759, 764.)

In Stevens , defendant ple a d ed guilty to committing a lewd act on a child
under 14 w ho he met at a youth program

. Defendant’s home computer contained no child pornography or evidence of illicit activity. ( Steve ns, supra, 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 1231.) When defendant was released on parole, a special condition of parole stated, “‘You shal l not possess or have access to computer hardware or software including the [I]nternet.’” ( Ibid .) In his habeas corpus petition, defendant contended the restriction bore no relation to his crime of conviction, did not relate to criminal conduct, and forb ade conduct not reasonably related to preventing future criminality. ( Ibid .) The court recognized the state had a compelling concern that giving a released child molester “unfettered access to a computer might result in criminal conduct.” ( Id. at p. 123 9.) However, the court held the condition invalid because it completely prohibited computer and Internet use, which bore no relation to the underlying offense and was a greater6

restriction than necessary to accomplish the state’s goal. ( Ibid .) The court concluded a more focused condition, such as unannounced inspections or monitoring software would be appropriate. ( Ibid .)

S imilar to Stevens , Navarro did not use a computer during the underlying
offense and thus the Special Condition does not directly re l ate to the crime of conviction. The Special Condition does, however, reasonably relate to preventing futu re criminality.
And unlike Stevens , the Special Condition did not completely prohibit Navarro from using a computer or the Internet.

T he De partment imposed th e Special Condition for the following two

reasons: the nature of the underlying offense (“[s] ubject attempted to kidnap a minor; during the attack he touched her and threatened to rape he[r]”) created a nexus between Navarro’s behavior during the underlying offense and the behavior being restricted ; and
the restriction control s those behaviors associated with Navarro’s “sexual deviancy and sex offender profi le behavioral characteristics.” The trial court relied on these factors
when it reasoned, “It would appear that the conditions related to making efforts to curtail or prohibit [Navarro from] engaging in any type of predatory behavior that resulted in his imprisonment in the first place by denying him access to sites which would [allow him to] en gage in predatory behavior[.]” Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by imposing the Special Condition that sought to deter Navarro from using Internet technologies to prey on young victims.

Additionally, the trial court’s c onclusion is further supported by Navarro’s unsatisfactory performance on parole, including four paro le violations, several of which related to Internet use. One parole violation was for viewing, possessing , or having

access to pornographic material on hi s cell phone . Another parole violation was for changing his name to conceal his registered sexual offender name , “Alex Navarro,” by using the name “Alex Russell” on Gmail and various social media websites

. Thus, the7

Special Condition was valid because it was reasonably related to deter future criminal
conduct.
III . Vague Conceding he did not raise the vagueness issue below, Navarro contends

t he Special Condition is unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide fair warning
wha t conduct is prohibit ed

. We agree

.

Preliminarily, the Attorney General does not assert Navarro forfeited appellate review of the vagueness issue because he did not raise the issue below. Indeed, the forfeiture rule does not apply when a parole condition is challenged as

un constitutionally vague on its face and the claim can be resolved on appeal as a pure question of law without reference to the particular sentencing record developed below. (See In re Sheena K. (2007) 40 Cal.4th 875, 887

- 889 ( Sheena K .).)

“[T]he underpinn ing of a vagueness challenge is the due process concept of ‘fa ir warning.’ [Citation.] The rule of fair warning consists of ‘ the due process concepts of preventing arbitrary law enforcement and providing adequate notice to potential offenders’ [citation] , protections that are ‘ embodied in the due process clauses of the
federal and Calif

ornia Constitutions. [Citations.]’ [citat ion.] The vagueness doctrine bars enforcement of ‘ “ a statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in

terms so va gue that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning
and d iffer as to its application.” [Citation .]’ [Citation.] A vague law ‘ not only fails to provide adequate notice to those who must observe its strictures , but also “ impermissibl y delegates basic policy matters to policemen, judges, and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis, with the attendant dangers of arbitrary a nd discriminatory application.” [Citation.]’ [Citation.] In deciding the adequacy of any notice afforded those bound by a legal restriction, we are guided by the principles that ‘ abstract legal
commands must be applied in a specific context ,’ and t hat, although not admitting of

‘ mathematica l certainty,’ the language used must have ‘“ reasonable specif icity.”’8

[Citation.] [¶] A probation condition ‘ must be sufficiently precise for the probationer to know what is required of him, and for the court to determine whether the condition has been violated,’ if it is to withstand a challen ge on the ground of vagueness. [Citation.] A probation condition that imp oses limitations on a person’ s constitutional rights must closely tailor those limitations to the purpose of the condition to avoid being invalidated as unconstitutionally overbroad. [Citation.]” ( S heena K., supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 890.)
We review vagueness and overbreadth challenges de novo. ( Id . at pp. 887

- 888.)

Here, the Special Condition consists of two sentences. The first sentence

states , “ You shall not use an ele ctronic bulletin boar d system, [I] nternet relay chat channel, instant messaging, newsg roup, user group, peer to peer; i.e., Na pster, Gnutella, Freenet, etc.” Read plainly, this would restrict a parolee from using any I nternet based communication where the parolee posts content to the I nternet, such as instant messaging
or social media. The second sentence provides, “ This would include any site

- base; i.e., Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo e

- mail, etc., which allows the user to have the ability to surf
the [ I ] nternet undetected. ” The i nclusion o f specific e

- mail providers seems to ban the
use of e

- mail providers to surf the I nternet undetected. However, the second sentence
relates to the restrictions laid out in the first sentence , as the second sentence begins

“ [ t ] his would include,” and it is unclear how these two sentences work together, resulting in disagreement between the parties concerning how to interpret the Special Condition.

Navarro suggests there are two ways t o interpret the Special Condition

. Fi rst, it prohibit s the us e of any e

- mail or Internet browser that allows Internet searching in “private” mode. Second, it prohibit s the use of instant messaging, peer to peer communications, or bulletin boards that allow the user to surf the Internet undetec ted. The Attorney Gen er al interprets the Special Condition as prohibiting parolees f rom visiting any platform that allows them to browse the Internet undetected by listing types of platforms prohibited ( electronic bulletin board s ystems, I nternet relay chat channels,
ins tant m essaging, newsgroup, usergroup, and peer

- to

- peer) and specific platforms9

prohibited (Napster, Gnutella, Freenet, Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo e

- mail). The
confusion does not end there.

First, a s Na varro notes, the phrase “ ‘ surf the Internet undetected ’ ” m akes it
unclear whether it applies to parolee s surfing the I nternet undetected by parole authorities

or to parolees interacting with others o n the Internet without revealing their identitie s. Second, the inclusion of specific e

- mail platforms in the secon d sentence caus es confusion about whether the Special Condition prohibits the paro lee from using e

- mail altogether, which would unnecessarily infringe on his right to communicate with family/friends or find/keep employment, or whether the parolee can use e

- mail, just not
to browse the Internet undetected.

As demonstrated by the many interpretations and resulting confusion , we conclude the Special Condition is not “sufficiently precise for the [parolee] to know what is required of him, ” which has caused the parties and the court to “ ‘“ guess at its meaning
and differ as to its application.” [Citation.]’” ( Sheena K, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 890.) Therefore, due to its imprecise nature, we conclude the Special Condition is unconstitutionally vague as writ ten.
IV

. Overbroad

Finally, Navarro asserts the Special Condition is unconstitutionally overbroad because it imposes a far greater burden on hi s First Amendment rights than reasonably necessary to achieve any legitimate state interest. We decline Navar ro’s
invitation to consider the overbreadth issue in light of our conclusion the Special
Condition is un constitutionally vague. ( Sheena K, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 891, fn. 8 [ “ In
view of [the] conclusion [the probation condition is un constitutionally vagu e] , it is unnecessary to decide whether [. . .] the probation condition also is unconstitutionally overbroad”]. )10 DISPOSITION The post judgment order is reversed.

O’LEARY, P. J.

WE CONCUR:

FYBEL, J.

THOMPSON, J.