Opinion ID: 1149662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: necessity for evaluation report

Text: As previously noted, Welfare and Institutions Code section 707.2 (hereafter, further statutory references are to this code) provides that a minor who committed a crime while under the age of 18 years may not be sentenced to state prison unless he has first been remanded to the YA for evaluation and report, and after consideration of the report, the trial court finds the minor unsuitable for YA commitment. Read literally, there is a seeming conflict between section 707.2 and the ineligibility provisions of section 1731.5, because section 707.2 contains no specific exemptions for persons who are ineligible for YA commitment. Section 1731.5, originally enacted in 1941, has not been amended since 1969. (Stats. 1969, ch. 785, § 2.) Section 707.2, enacted in 1975, was amended into its present form in 1976. (Stats. 1976, ch. 1069, § 1, p. 4808.) Petitioner contends that section 1731.5 must be construed as impliedly repealed to the extent that it conflicts with the more recently amended section 707.2. (Cf. In re Thierry S. (1977) 19 Cal.3d 727 [139 Cal. Rptr. 708, 566 P.2d 610]; see also 2A Sutherland, Statutory Construction (4th ed. 1973) § 51.03.) The doctrine of implied repeal is not favored, however, and there exists a presumption against its operation. A subsequent statute must irreconcilably conflict with the provision under consideration in order to replace it by implied repeal. ( Ibid. ) Can we fairly assume that the Legislature intended to reduce the punishment of juvenile offenders who are sentenced either to death or imprisonment for life by permitting them to be committed to the YA? A careful examination of the history of section 707.2 indicates quite the contrary intent. As originally enacted in 1975, section 707.2 (applicable only to persons under the age of 18 at the time of their offense) provided that, generally, no such person could be sentenced to state prison. There were three specific exceptions to this rule mandating YA commitment, covering those defendants who were (1) deemed ineligible under section 1731.5; (2) found by the YA to be unamenable to YA treatment and returned to the court under section 1737.1; or (3) subject to continued incarceration pursuant to sections 1780-1783. The 1976 amendment to section 707.2 restored a measure of discretion to the sentencing judge. Under that section, any defendant who was under the age of 18 at the time of his offense may now be sentenced to state prison if he has been remanded to the YA for evaluation and, after reading the diagnostic report, the judge finds the defendant unsuitable for YA commitment. It is clear that the 1976 amendment to section 707.2 effectively increased the potential punishment of youthful offenders by increasing the number of situations in which prison sentences were authorized. The legislative history of the 1976 amendment discloses no intention to alter the long standing determination (expressed in § 1731.5, subd. (b)) that youthful offenders who are sentenced to death or imprisonment for life are inappropriate candidates for YA commitment. Thus, section 1731.5 was not impliedly repealed by section 707.2. Because of the foregoing conclusion, I would hold that youthful offenders who are excluded from YA commitment pursuant to section 1731.5 should not be remanded to the YA for report and evaluation prior to sentencing to state prison, because the recommendation could benefit neither the defendant nor the sentencing judge. We cannot assume that the Legislature would command the performance of a useless act ( Netwig v. Huntington Beach Union High Sch. Dist. (1975) 52 Cal. App.3d 529, 532 [125 Cal. Rptr. 170]). Thus, the trial court in the present case did not err in failing to obtain a YA report prior to sentencing petitioner. The bizarre result of the majority's interpretation is that a people's initiative obviously designed to tighten procedures and increase punishment will now permit, for the first time in the state's history to my knowledge, a person convicted as an adult of first degree murder to receive YA rather than prison treatment. Either the majority is wrong or the people in adopting Proposition 7 were sorely misadvised. I would deny the writ of habeas corpus.