Opinion ID: 776953
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bray v. Ylst

Text: 9 On March 28, 1994, Bray attempted to steal three videotapes from a music and video store in a Long Beach, California shopping mall. He activated the store's alarm system when he tried to leave, and the store's clerks detained him and turned him over to mall security. When the police arrived and arrested Bray, they confiscated a plastic bag containing the videotapes.
10 In finding Bray guilty for the theft of the videotapes, the jury also found that he had been convicted of four previous felony offenses. 1 In February 1980, Bray was convicted on three separate counts of robbery, § 211. The first two convictions stemmed from one August 1979 incident in which Bray and a co-defendant stole a purse and a briefcase from the driver of a car. When the victim grabbed Bray, his co-defendant, who was brandishing a gun, pointed it at the driver's head and threatened to kill her if she did not release Bray. The victim complied, but as Bray and the co-defendant fled the scene, the co-defendant fired three shots. 11 The third robbery conviction stemmed from a separate incident in which Bray and several co-defendants approached the victim and demanded his watch. One co-defendant then hit the victim in the face and took the watch. After the victim fell to the ground, a second co-defendant kicked him in the face and took five dollars in cash. The court sentenced Bray to three years in prison for each of the three convictions, the sentences to run concurrently. After 21 months, he was released on a work furlough. 12 The jury also found that in November 1987, Bray was again convicted of robbery. The court sentenced Bray to three years in prison, but he was paroled approximately 18 months later.
13 Based on the presence of a prior theft conviction, Bray's current petty theft offense was charged as a felony, § 666. The jury convicted Bray of the felony and returned true findings on the allegations that Bray had four prior serious or violent felony convictions and had served two prior prison terms. Because he was convicted for the current offense as a felony and the jury found two or more prior strikes, Bray was subject to the mandatory 25-year-to-life sentence provided by Three Strikes. At sentencing, the court rejected Bray's argument that his punishment was cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Bray appealed his sentence on the same grounds, but the California Court of Appeal rejected this contention in an unpublished opinion, and the California Supreme Court denied Bray's petition for review. 14 Bray then filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition in district court. The magistrate judge issued a report concluding that Bray's sentence did not violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Adopting the magistrate judge's reasoning, the district court denied Bray's habeas petition. Although the district court denied Bray's application for a Certificate of Appealability (COA), this court granted a COA on the cruel and unusual punishment issue. 2