Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/24/428.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 16:18:15+00:00

Document:
Cecil Hicks, District Attorney, Michael R. Capizzi, Assistant District Attorney, John D. Conley, Oretta D. Sears and Eric W. Snethen, Deputy District Attorneys, for Petitioner.
James A. Stotler for Real Party in Interest.
In this mandate proceeding we must decide whether a violation of Business and Professions Code section 2399.5, which states that it is unprofessional conduct to prescribe, dispense or furnish dangerous drugs without a good faith prior examination and medical [24 Cal. 3d 431] indication therefor, constitutes a misdemeanor under section 2426 of that code. fn. 1 We conclude that it does not.
[2a] The People contend that since section 2399.5 is in chapter 5 and since it does not expressly provide otherwise, a violation of section 2399.5 constitutes a misdemeanor as provided in section 2426. They assert that a review of the framework of chapter 5 reveals that the Legislature must have intended that section 2426 apply to violations of the sections defining unprofessional conduct. We disagree. Indeed, our review of the statutory framework indicates an intent to the contrary.
The provisions of chapter 5 at issue in this case are similar to those contained in a number of other chapters of the Business and Professions Code governing trades, professions and businesses. The interpretation of [24 Cal. 3d 433] such provisions was considered in an Attorney General's opinion given in response to a question regarding chapter 12, the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law (§ 7600). (29 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 28 (1957).) We find the reasoning in that opinion sound and apply it by analogy to the provisions at issue in this case.
Several acts which are stated to constitute "unprofessional conduct" are likewise, by other sections, denounced as crimes. This has been true since the chapter was enacted in 1937. For example, practicing under a name other than that given in one's certificate without a special permit therefor constitutes "unprofessional conduct" (§ 2393) and is a misdemeanor (§ 2429). The use by the holder of any certificate of any letters, words or terms indicating that he is entitled to practice a system of treating the sick for which he is not licensed is "unprofessional conduct" (§ 2395) and also a misdemeanor (§ 2142). The misuse of alcoholic beverages so that it impairs a certificate holder's ability to practice safely on the public constitutes "unprofessional conduct" (§ 2390) and is a misdemeanor if such misuse occurs while in actual attendance on patients (§ 2435). The conviction of certain crimes is also declared to be "unprofessional conduct" (§§ 2383, 2384).
 Generally, the provisions of a penal statute are to be construed according to the fair import of their terms, with a view to effect its objects and to promote justice. (Pen. Code, § 4; People v. King (1978) 22 Cal. 3d 12, 23 [148 Cal. Rptr. 409, 582 P.2d 1000].) [2c] When the statute is susceptible of two reasonable constructions, however, the defendant is ordinarily entitled to that construction most favorable to him. (People v. King, supra, 22 Cal.3d at p. 23; Bowland v. Municipal Court, supra, 18 Cal.3d at p. 488.) In accord with these principles, we construe section 2426 as not applying to conduct alleged to be in violation of section 2399.5 or other sections which define unprofessional conduct only. We disapprove People v. Berkowitz (1977) 68 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 9 [137 Cal. Rptr. 313], and People v. Michals (1974) 36 Cal. App. 3d 850 [111 Cal. Rptr. 892], to the extent they are inconsistent with this opinion.
The alternative writ of mandate is discharged and the peremptory writ of mandate is denied.
I respectfully dissent. The following analysis of the relevant statutory provisions leads me to the inevitable conclusion that real party's conduct, if established, constitutes a misdemeanor and is properly punishable as such. Real party is accused of prescribing or furnishing dangerous drugs without prior examination and medical indication therefor. Such conduct is expressly proscribed as "unprofessional conduct" under section 2399.5 of the Business and Professions Code. In turn, "unprofessional conduct" is defined in section 2361 of that code as including "(a) Violating ... any provision or term of this chapter [i.e., the chapter containing sections 2000 through 2528.3]." Finally, [24 Cal. 3d 436] section 2426 provides that "Unless it is otherwise expressly provided, any person who violates any provision of this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished [as specified] ...." Real party's alleged conduct was "unprofessional conduct" which violated section 2399.5 of the code. It follows that such conduct constituted a misdemeanor or under section 2426.
Chapter 5 of the Business and Professions Code constitutes the chapter on medicine and is referred to as the State Medical Practice Act. (§ 2000.) It was enacted in 1937 as part of a codification. (Stats. 1937, ch. 414, p. 1377; Stats. 1937, ch. 399, p. 1254.) It is comprised of a number of articles dealing with separate but perhaps related topics and variously titled, e.g., "Loans for Medical Students," "The Physician's and Surgeon's Application," "Examination," "Denial, Suspension and Revocation" (art. 13), "Crimes and Penalties" (art. 14), and "Medical Corporations."
The People's position is that section 2399.5 is a provision within chapter 5, that it does not expressly provide that its violation does not constitute a crime, and that, therefore, [real party's] conduct in violation [24 Cal. 3d 437] of section 2399.5 constitutes a misdemeanor as provided in section 2426. The People's position is sound.
[Real party] contends that section 2399.5 does not define a criminal offense because it does not comport with the definition of a crime or public offense found in Penal Code section 15. That section reads in pertinent part: "A crime or public offense is an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it, and to which is annexed, upon conviction, either of the following punishments: [¶] ... [¶] 2. Imprisonment; [¶] 3. Fine; ..." It is true as [real party] asserts that the requisites specified by Penal Code section 15 are in the conjunctive and that not only must one of the requisite punishments be prescribed for violation but some act must be prohibited or commanded. (McComb v. Superior Court, 68 Cal.App.3d at pp. 96-97 [137 Cal. Rptr. 233]; People v. Crutcher, 262 Cal. App. 2d 750, 754 [68 Cal. Rptr. 904].) Nevertheless, [real party's] contention is not meritorious.
Read together, sections 2426 and 2399.5 fully satisfy the requirements of Penal Code section 15. They forbid prescribing, dispensing or furnishing dangerous drugs without a good faith prior examination and medical indication therefor; they declare such conduct to be a misdemeanor and prescribe, upon violation, punishment by fine and imprisonment. [24 Cal. 3d 438] It is not necessary, as [real party] contends, that the prohibition be expressed in such terms as "no person shall ..." or "it shall be unlawful to ...." Penal Code section 15 does not require the proscribed conduct to be forbidden in any certain language. It is true that section 2399.5 states only that the proscribed conduct constitutes unprofessional conduct. But that language alone certainly indicates the specified conduct is not permitted. In any event, however, section 2426 expressly provides that a violation of "any provision of this chapter" is a misdemeanor, and section 2399.5 is a provision within the same chapter as section 2426. A statute declaring that certain conduct constitutes a misdemeanor is at least equivalent to a declaration of unlawfulness, which [real party] concedes is a sufficient prohibition to satisfy Penal Code section 15.
Similarly, [real party's] contention that the statute gives insufficient notice of the conduct prohibited, the persons to whom it is directed, and the fact that engaging in the prohibited conduct constitutes a crime is without merit principally because it takes no account of section 2426. Unlike the code sections involved in People v. Crutcher, supra, 262 Cal.App.2d at pages 753-755, section 2399.5 specifies without any significant ambiguity or uncertainty the conduct proscribed and sections 2399.5 and 2426 together give adequate notice that any person engaging in the proscribed conduct is guilty of a misdemeanor.
[Real party] also asserts that the application of section 2426 to section 2399.5 and similar sections would have an anomalous result. The argument is that section 2361 declares that criminal conduct is unprofessional conduct and that if section 2426 is applied to sections like 2399.5 specifying unprofessional conduct, the result is that unprofessional conduct is criminal conduct and criminal conduct is unprofessional conduct. Were that true, we would perceive no inconsistency. However, section 2361 does not declare that any criminal conduct is unprofessional conduct. It provides in subdivision (f) that the commission of any act involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption constitutes unprofessional conduct whether the act is a felony or a misdemeanor. Section 2383 is to the same effect.
Recognizing that section 2426 must be given some effect, [real party] contends first that what it means is that where another provision in chapter 5 declares that conduct is criminal but does not specify whether it constitutes a felony or a misdemeanor, section 2426 has the effect of declaring it to be a misdemeanor. We are unpersuaded. That is simply not what section 2426 says. It provides in relatively unambiguous language that "any person, who violates any provision of this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor ...." Secondly, the only section in the act we have found which declares conduct to be criminal but does not specify whether the crime is a felony or a misdemeanor is section 2141.5. But section 2141.5 was not added to the act until 1967 (see Stats. 1967, ch. 1103, p. 2741) whereas section 2426 was enacted in 1937 at a time when, so far as we have discovered, the act contained no section at all declaring conduct criminal but not specifying a misdemeanor or a felony. (See Stats. 1937, ch. 399.) Moreover, section 2141.5 provides for alternative punishments appropriate to either a misdemeanor or a felony, and the classification of the offense would depend not on section 2426 but the actual punishment imposed following conviction.
I would grant a peremptory writ of mandate as prayed.
FN 1. Unless otherwise indicated, all statutory references hereafter are to the Business and Professions Code.
FN 2. Issuance of a writ of prohibition to restrain further proceedings in an ongoing criminal jury trial is unusual. Although we do not question the court's power to have done so, we do question the appropriateness of such action. Considerations of orderly procedure, in our view, require that such power be exercised sparingly and only in the most compelling of circumstances once a criminal jury trial is underway and jeopardy has attached.
"(b) No physician and surgeon shall be found to have committed unprofessional conduct within the meaning of subdivision (a) if, at the time drugs were prescribed, dispensed, or furnished: The physician and surgeon was a designated physician serving in the absence of the patient's physician, provided such drugs were prescribed, dispensed, or furnished only as necessary to maintain the patient until the return of his physician, but in any case no longer than 72 hours; or (2) The physician and surgeon transmitted the order for such drugs to a registered nurse in an inpatient facility provided that such physician and surgeon has consulted with a registered nurse who has reviewed the patient's records and provided that such physician and surgeon was designated as the physician to serve in the absence of the patient's physician; or (3) The physician and surgeon was a designated physician serving in the absence of the patient's physician and was in possession of or had utilized the patient's records and ordered the renewal of a medically indicated prescription for an amount not exceeding the original prescription in strength or amount or for more than one refilling."
In 1917, the Legislature amended these sections by removing the specific penalty provisions and providing instead that the conduct constitutes a misdemeanor which is punishable "as designated in this act." (Stats. 1917, ch. 81, §§ 10-12, pp. 113-114.) At the same time the Legislature added section 24, the antecedent of section 2426, to provide an omnibus penalty provision in lieu of the specific provisions that had been in each section. (Stats. 1917, ch. 81, § 13, p. 115.) Section 24 provided in pertinent part that "for a violation of any provision of this act, the said violator shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, unless otherwise specifically provided in this act, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than six hundred dollars or by imprisonment for a term of not less than sixty days nor more than one hundred eighty days or by both such fine and imprisonment."
The legislative history thus indicates that section 2426 was not intended to make every violation of a rule of conduct a misdemeanor, but rather to provide a standardized penalty for the various misdemeanor offenses.
FN 2. Penal Code section 18 reads in part: "Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by any law of this state, every offense declared to be a felony ... [is punishable in a specified way]." The language of Penal Code section 19 is identical to the quoted language of section 18 except that it relates to misdemeanors and the prescribed punishment is, of course, less severe.

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