Opinion ID: 1163779
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: penal code section 12022.5 was improperly applied in this case

Text: [ ] [Defendant correctly contends that section 12022.5 of the Penal Code was improperly applied in this case. That section reads, in pertinent part, as follows: Any person who uses a firearm in the commission or attempted commission of a robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, murder, rape, burglary, or kidnaping, upon conviction of such crime, shall, in addition to the punishment prescribed for the crime of which he has been convicted, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not less than five years. Such additional period of imprisonment shall commence upon expiration or other termination of the sentence imposed for the crime of which he is convicted and shall not run concurrently with such sentence. (17) [Section 12022.5 of the Penal Code applies only with respect to the six felonies specifically enumerated therein. ( People v. Provencher, 33 Cal. App.3d 546, 548-549 [108 Cal. Rptr. 792].) It was enacted after this court decided that section 12022 of the Penal Code, which provides for an additional period of imprisonment upon conviction of a felony while armed with a deadly weapon, does not apply where a deadly weapon is an essential element of the basic crime. (See, e.g., People v. Floyd, 71 Cal.2d 879 [80 Cal. Rptr. 22, 457 P.2d 862]; In re Shull, 23 Cal.2d 745 [146 P.2d 417].) In an evident attempt to overcome such objection, the Legislature enacted section 12022.5 specifying six particular felonies, making the additional penalty prescribed therein applicable to the use of a firearm (rather than while armed with any deadly weapon) in the commission, or attempted commission, of such felonies, and providing that the section shall apply even in those cases where the use of a weapon is an element of the offense. As pointed out in People v. McDaniels, 25 Cal. App.3d 708, 715 [102 Cal. Rptr. 444], the Legislature could have amended the particular Penal Code sections which fix the penalties for the six specific felonies, but it elected, instead, to accomplish its purpose by adopting section 12022.5. [ Provencher dealt with a situation analogous to that existing here. The defendant there had been charged with, and found guilty of, assault with intent to murder; and it was found that he had used a firearm in the commission of the offense. In answering the People's argument that assault with intent to murder included the same elements as attempted murder and that the statute should therefore apply, the Court of Appeal stated at page 549 of 33 Cal. App.3d: Although the elements of attempted murder (intent and direct but ineffectual acts in furtherance) may be present in an assault with intent to murder, the offenses are not identical. [Citations.] The Legislature has established these two separate crimes, with two separate punishments. If it had wished to include assault with intent to murder in section 12022.5, it could have done so. [It should be noted that assault with intent to murder carries a lesser maximum penalty than any offense listed in section 12022.5, other than a conviction of attempted second degree burglary. Attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of twenty years. Assault with a deadly weapon carries a maximum sentence of life. Assault with intent to murder carries a maximum sentence of fourteen years, so that it is rational for the Legislature to have excluded it from the listed crimes. [Under the statutory definition, murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, with malice aforethought. (Italics added; Pen. Code, § 187.) Manslaughter, on the other hand, is the unlawful killing of a human being, without malice (italics added; Pen. Code, § 192); and voluntary manslaughter is such a killing committed upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. 1). Significantly, a showing that the offense was committed upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion, although important in determining whether an unlawful killing constitutes murder or manslaughter, is otherwise irrelevant with respect to any of the crimes specifically enumerated in section 12022.5 of the Penal Code and would have no bearing on the punishment of a defendant found guilty of any such crimes. Manslaughter, while a lesser included offense of murder, is clearly a separate offense ( People v. Moles, 10 Cal. App.3d 611, 615 (2a) [89 Cal. Rptr. 226]) and carries a substantially lesser maximum punishment than murder, the maximum punishment for murder being life imprisonment or under certain circumstances death (Pen. Code, §§ 190, 190.2), while the maximum punishment for manslaughter is imprisonment in the state prison for not exceeding 15 years (Pen. Code, § 193). Manslaughter, in fact, carries a lesser maximum penalty than any offense listed in section 12022.5, other than a conviction of attempted second degree burglary. (18) Under all the circumstances, it is logical to assume that, even though manslaughter is a lesser included offense of murder, the Legislature did not intend to make the provisions of section 12022.5 of the Penal Code applicable to it. To the extent that People v. Otis, 33 Cal. App.3d 893 [109 Cal. Rptr. 444], is contrary to the views expressed herein, it is disapproved. [In reaching this conclusion, we are mindful of our admonition in Keeler v. Superior Court, 2 Cal.3d 619 [87 Cal. Rptr. 481, 470 P.2d 617, 40 A.L.R.3d 420], where we said at page 631 (7): It is the policy of this state to construe a penal statute as favorably to the defendant as its language and the circumstances of its application may reasonably permit; just as in the case of a question of fact, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of every reasonable doubt as to the true interpretation of words or the construction of language used in a statute. In Keeler, we concluded that the Legislature, in adopting the definition of murder in section 187 of the Penal Code, intended to exclude from its operation the act of killing an unborn fetus. [Although section 12022.5 of the Penal Code was improperly applied to defendant, he is, nevertheless, subject to additional punishment under section 12022 of the Penal Code because of his having been armed with a deadly weapon at the time he committed the crime of voluntary manslaughter, a felony. [3] (19) Thus, the following statement from Provencher is apropos: The jury ... found that appellant `did use a firearm' in the commission of the offense. Penal Code section 12022.5 and section 12022 [fn. omitted] do not define a crime or offense but relate to the penalty to be imposed under certain circumstances. Thus section 12022 is not a lesser included offense under 12022.5 but section 12022 would be applicable in any case in which 12022.5 applies. Basically 12022.5 is a limited application of section 12022 with a heavier penalty. (20) In the present case appellant did not come within the provisions of section 12022.5, as the crime of which he was convicted was not specified in that section, but the jury did find that he used and thus was armed with a firearm, a shotgun, at the time the offense was committed. Appellant was charged in the commission with the use of a firearm under section 12022.5, thus had notice that his conduct [could] also be in violation of section 12022.]