Opinion ID: 1320524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: (3) Enhancement of Sentence in Reliance on Firearm Use

Text: As noted, defendant's use of a firearm in connection with the two robberies under counts one and two accounted for a two-year enhancement of count one, and an eight-month enhancement of count two. Defendant acknowledges that the enhancement of count one was appropriate under section 1170.1, but he challenges the propriety of the enhancement of count two under that section. Section 1170.1 relates to calculation of the term of imprisonment for offenses ordered to run consecutively. Subdivision (a) of this section provides in pertinent part ... the aggregate term of imprisonment ... shall be the sum of the principal term, [and] the subordinate term.... The principal term shall consist of the greatest term of imprisonment imposed by the court for any of the crimes, including any enhancements imposed pursuant to Section 12022, 12022.5, 12022.6, or 12022.7. The subordinate term for each consecutive offense shall consist of one-third of the middle term of imprisonment prescribed for each other felony conviction for which a consecutive term of imprisonment is imposed, and shall exclude any enhancements when the consecutive offense is not listed in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5, but shall include one-third of any enhancement imposed pursuant to Section 12022, 12022.5 or 12022.7 when the consecutive offense is listed in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5. (Italics added.) Defendant contends that firearm use is not an offense which is listed in section 667.5, subdivision (c), and that accordingly the eight months' enhancement for firearm use was improper. Section 667.5 pertains to the subject of enhancement of sentence by reason of prior prison terms imposed on a defendant. Subdivision (a) of the section provides for specified enhanced terms where the offense was one of the violent felonies specified in subdivision (c) thereof. That subdivision provides, in pertinent part, For the purpose of this section, `violent felony' shall mean any of the following: (1) Murder or voluntary manslaughter. (2) Mayhem. (3) Rape as defined in subdivisions (2) and (3) of Section 261. (4) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (5) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (6) Lewd acts on a child under 14 as defined in Section 288. (7) Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. (8) Any other felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on any person other than an accomplice which has been charged and proved as provided for in Section 12022.7 on or after July 1, 1977, or as specified prior to July 1, 1977, in Sections 213, 264, and 461, or any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm which use has been charged and proved as provided in Section 12022.5. [¶] The Legislature finds and declares that these specified crimes merit special consideration when imposing a sentence to display society's condemnation for such extraordinary crimes of violence against the person. (Italics added.) Although robbery with firearm use is not specifically mentioned by name in the list of violent felonies under subdivision (c), this offense presumably would be included within that category by reason of the broad language of paragraph (8). Nonetheless, as defendant points out, to construe section 1170.1, subdivision (a), as permitting the enhancement of defendant's consecutive offense solely by reason of his commission of a felony involving use of a firearm would result in a troublesome anomaly: As so interpreted, section 1170.1 would permit enhancement for firearm use in any case involving firearm use, thereby seeming to render wholly unnecessary the section's specific statutory reference to the various violent felonies described in section 667.5, subdivision (c). The foregoing inconsistency would also extend to enhancements under section 12022.7 (infliction of great bodily injury), for these enhancements are also included within the statutory definition of violent felonies under section 667.5, subdivision (c) (8). The question is close and subtle. However, the evident legislative intent underlying section 1170.1, subdivision (a), was to allow enhancement of the consecutive offense only in certain limited situations, namely, where the conduct for which such enhancement is sought (e.g., firearm use) occurred in the course of commission of a violent felony (such as murder, mayhem, rape, etc.). We think it is unlikely that the Legislature intended to impose an enhancement for firearm use or great bodily injury in every case involving such factors, given the statutory reference in section 1170.1, subdivision (a), to section 667.5. (See also, § 1170.1, subds. (c) and (f), both of which distinguish between the felonies described in § 667.5, subd. (c), and the enhancements imposed pursuant to §§ 12022, 12022.5, 12022.6, and 12022.7.) Thus, properly construed, section 1170.1, subdivision (a), permits enhancement only for those specific offenses listed in section 667.5, subdivision (c). Because the offense of robbery with firearm use is not specifically listed in that latter section, we conclude that the trial court erred in imposing an additional eight-month enhancement for that offense in the present case. (Accord, People v. Williamson (1979) 90 Cal. App.3d 164, 171 [153 Cal. Rptr. 48].) The cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to set aside the sentence and to resentence defendant in accordance with the views expressed herein. The judgment of conviction is affirmed.