Opinion ID: 2612145
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's eligibility for probation

Text: Penal Code section 1203 requires in all felony cases in which the defendant is eligible for probation that the court must hear and determine such application. Health and Safety Code section 11715.6 states that: In no case shall any person convicted of violating Sections 11500, 11500.5, 11501, 11502, 11503, 11530, 11530.5, 11531, 11532, 11540, 11557, or 11715, or of committing any offense referred to in those sections, be granted probation by the trial court ... if such person has been previously convicted of any felony offense described in this division.... [6] In the instant action defendant suffered conviction on two counts of violation of section 11531; he had previously been convicted of an infringement of section 11530 (possession of marijuana). The People did not charge the previous conviction in the indictment, although Penal Code section 969 requires that all known previous convictions, whether in this State or elsewhere, must be charged. During cross-examination, however, defendant admitted the violations; the probation report subsequently mentioned them. Defendant contends that section 11715.6 refers only to prior convictions charged in the pleadings; the Attorney General maintains that a prior conviction will bar probation no matter by what means it comes to the attention of the court. The California Penal Code establishes a detailed procedure for the charging, trying, and finding of previous felony convictions. (See Pen. Code, §§ 969, 969a, 969b, 969 1/2, 1025, 1093, 1158.) This procedure affords an accused advance notice that his prior conviction is in issue (§§ 969, 969a) and gives him an opportunity to contest the fact and validity of the prior conviction to a jury (§ 1025) which will be instructed that the prosecution must prove the former conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. (2 Witkin, Cal. Crimes (1963) § 1020; see People v. Morton (1953) 41 Cal.2d 536, 539 [261 P.2d 523]; In re Tartar (1959) 52 Cal.2d 250, 257 [339 P.2d 553].) The jury must return a special verdict on the issue. (§ 1158.) The statutes provide to the accused a safeguard of value, especially in the light of recent decisions opening opportunities for an accused to attack the validity of prior convictions. [6] In People v. Ford (1964) 60 Cal.2d 772 [36 Cal. Rptr. 620, 388 P.2d 892], we held that before a defendant can properly be sentenced to suffer the increased penalties flowing from ... [a] finding ... [of a prior conviction] the fact of the prior conviction ... must be charged in the accusatory pleading, and if the defendant pleads not guilty thereto the charge must be proved and the truth of the allegation determined by the jury, or by the court if a jury is waived. (60 Cal.2d at p. 794.) The denial of opportunity for probation involved here is equivalent to an increase in penalty, and the principle declared in Ford should apply. The instant case resembles People v. Ibarra (1963) 60 Cal.2d 460 [34 Cal. Rptr. 863, 386 P.2d 487], in which this court construed former section 6452 of the Penal Code (now Welf. & Inst. Code, § 3052). Section 6452 stated in part that provisions requiring a determination of a defendant's fitness for the narcotics rehabilitation program shall not apply to persons convicted of, or who have previously been convicted of ... any offense set fourth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 11500) or 2 (commencing with Section 11530) of Chapter 5 of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code ... for which the minimum term prescribed by law is more than five years in state prison. Ibarra was convicted of a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11500. He had suffered two prior convictions, which if charged and proved would have required a minimum sentence of 10 years on the present conviction and thus leave him ineligible for the rehabilitation program under the language of section 6452. Nevertheless, the information charged only one prior conviction, so that Ibarra's conviction carried a five-year minimum sentence. On application for assignment to the rehabilitation program, the trial judge found Ibarra ineligible because of the two prior convictions of narcotics felonies. We reversed, stating that, If an allegation of a prior conviction will bar a defendant from the program ... that allegation should come before the court in a manner affording the defendant adequate opportunity to rebut the allegation. Charging the prior conviction in the information fulfills this requirement, but merely presenting the conviction in a probation report does not. (60 Cal.2d at pp. 467-468.) [7] The statutory procedure for charging and proving prior convictions is specific and comprehensive; it is in common use and familiar to courts and attorneys. We see no reason to speculate on whether the language of Ibarra might permit the proving of a prior conviction by some different procedure which also could afford adequate opportunity to rebut the charge. We hold that whenever under Health and Safety Code section 11715.6 the fact of a prior conviction affects a defendant's eligibility for probation, the prior conviction should be charged and proved according to the relevant provisions of the Penal Code. A question remains whether the trial judge held defendant ineligible for probation, or denied his application for probation on the merits. The probation report that was furnished the judge recommended a denial of probation but expressed its position so ambiguously that we cannot tell whether it rested upon the merits of the issue or upon a belief of defendant's ineligibility under section 11715.6. [8] The record certainly does not indicate that the judge denied the application for probation solely on the merits. [9] Although the record is not free from ambiguity, we conclude that the trial judge probably did not rule on the merits of defendant's application for probation, but instead denied defendant's request for a hearing as to probation because of the prior conviction. In any event, a remand will permit the trial judge to weigh the question of probation free from doubt respecting the interpretation of section 11715.6 [10] and aided by a probation report directed to the true issue rather than ambiguously involved in an irrelevant matter. The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings under the directions and in conformity with the views herein expressed.