Opinion ID: 2632308
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The magistrate's rejection of defendant's guilty plea

Text: Defendant argues that he had an absolute right to plead guilty to the murder charge in the complaint. He relies on section 859a and the cases interpreting that statute. Section 859a, subdivision (a), provides in pertinent part: While the charge remains pending before the magistrate and when defendant's counsel is present, the defendant may plead guilty to the offense charged, or, with the consent of the magistrate and the district attorney or other counsel for the people, ... plead guilty or nolo contendere to any other offense the commission of which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged.... Defendant sought to plead guilty to the charge of murder, not to any lesser included offense, so the consent of the magistrate and the district attorney was not required. [4] A defendant charged in more than one count has the right under section 859a to plead to an individual count. (See People v. Reza (1984) 152 Cal.App.3d 647, 653-654, 199 Cal.Rptr. 664.) The Attorney General points out that section 1009, after providing that a prosecutor may amend a complaint without leave of court before a defendant enters a plea, states that after a defendant has pleaded or demurred to the charges [t]he court in which an action is pending may order or permit an amendment of an indictment, accusation or information, or the filing of an amended complaint, for any defect or insufficiency, at any stage of the proceedings.... Certain amendments are prohibitedthose which change the offenses charged, or alter an information to add charges not supported by the evidence at the preliminary hearing. (Ibid.) But the statute does not prohibit the prosecution from amending a complaint, indictment, or information after a defendant offers to plead guilty. Another statute, section 969.5, specifically authorizes amendment of a complaint after a plea of guilty to charge prior felony convictions. In People v. Superior Court (Alvarado) (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 464, 255 Cal.Rptr. 46, the Court of Appeal held that a trial court had abused its discretion by refusing to allow an amendment after a guilty plea adding a prior felony conviction that made the defendant ineligible for probation. Rejecting the defendant's contention that section 969.5 was inconsistent with section 1009, the Court of Appeal said that section 969.5 was simply an example of the general rule that with leave of court charges could be amended after a guilty plea. (Alvarado, at p. 476, 255 Cal.Rptr. 46.) We conclude that the magistrate here had discretion to permit the prosecution to amend the complaint against defendant. The question remains whether the magistrate abused his discretion in granting the prosecutor leave to amend after defendant stated his desire to plead guilty to murder. On this subject, both parties call our attention to Cronk v. Municipal Court (1982) 138 Cal.App.3d 351, 188 Cal.Rptr. 28. In that case a murder defendant, scheduled to enter a plea on July 24, 1981, made an ex parte motion to advance that date to July 21. On July 21, he appeared and offered to plead guilty. The prosecutor objected, asserting that he intended to add special circumstance charges but had not yet prepared an amended complaint. The Court of Appeal in Cronk rejected the defendant's contention that the magistrate erred in rejecting the plea. It stated that `[i]f the defense, without notice to the other side, accelerated a hearing date so as to cut off a legitimate right to amend [citation], the magistrate has the inherent power to restore that right to the prosecution by refusing to accept the plea....' (Id. at p. 354, 188 Cal.Rptr. 28.) Defendant here points out that he did not manipulate the court's calendar, but offered his plea on the date scheduled. Defendant, however, knew of the prosecution's express intention to decide whether to charge special circumstances after the preliminary hearing, yet defendant gave no advance notice of his intent to enter a guilty plea before the preliminary hearing. Under these circumstances, the magistrate was within his discretion in refusing to accept the plea and allowing the prosecution to amend the complaint. Because we conclude that defendant was not deprived of any right under state law, we necessarily reject his contention that the magistrate's order deprived defendant of a state-created due process right protected under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution.