Court Opinion

ID: 9607748
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:01:37.445394+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:39.839956
License: Public Domain

GRODIN, J., Dissenting.
Since the Legislature has now made clear its intent to apply the section 12022.1 enhancement to persons released on bail or own recognizance “prior to the judgment becoming final, including the disposition of any appeal” (Stats. 1985, ch. 533, § 1), and since it is unlikely there are many persons similarly situated to defendant Overstreet, today’s decision will have little impact. As a matter of statutory interpretation, however, I respectfully dissent.
The rule that ambiguities in penal statutes should be interpreted in favor of the defendant does not require or justify an interpretation which flies in the face of the statutory scheme, and upon which no defendant could reasonably have relied. (See generally 3 Sutherland, Statutory Construction (4th ed. 1974) §§ 59.06-59.08, pp. 18-27, and cases cited.) Taken by itself, the phrase “pending trial” might or might not include the sentencing phase of a trial, depending upon the context.1 In the context of this statute, the *903purpose of which is to impose an increased sentence upon persons who commit additional crimes while released on bail or own recognizance, the legislative intent is unmistakable. Neither the majority’s analysis nor the defendant’s arguments present a plausible basis for withholding the statutory enhancement from a defendant who commits an additional crime after the guilt phase of his trial but prior to sentencing and imposition of judgment. 2 While I recognize that the same might have been said with respect to a defendant who commits an additional crime while awaiting appeal, that is not a reason for failing to give effect to the apparent legislative intent so far as possible within the language of the statute.
Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment in its entirety.
Lucas, J., and Panelli, J., concurred.

Although the concurring opinion cites a number of cases which have concluded, in particular contexts, that the term “trial” should not be interpreted to include sentencing, in other instances the word “trial” has been construed to encompass sentencing. (See, e.g., People v. Mahan (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 28, 32 [168 Cal.Rptr. 428] [right to “speedy trial” includes sentencing]; People v. Betillo (1967) 53 Misc.2d 540 [279 N.Y.S.2d 444, 450] [“Is sentencing part of the trial? The answer is Yes.”]; State v. Budnick (Fla.App. 1970) 237 So.2d 825, 826.) In People v. McKamy (1914) 168 Cal. 531, 535-536 [143 P. 752], the court apparently viewed the term “trial” simply as referring to the initial level of the proceedings, to be distinguished from “appeal,” declaring: “[T]he word ‘trial,’ as commonly understood in our practice, includes nothing beyond proceedings in the court in which the case originated. In criminal cases, it embraces steps tending to and culminating in a judgment o/-conviction or acquittal. An appeal is no part of a trial. It is a means for remedying errors *903which have occurred at a precedent trial.” (Italics added.)
As Justice Holmes taught: “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.” (Towne v. Eisner (1918) 245 U.S. 418, 425 [62 L.Ed. 372, 376, 38 S.Ct. 158].)

As the majority observes (ante, pp. 897-898), the Constitution and statutes have in some contexts distinguished between the two phases of trial, but not in a manner which would be at all helpful to defendant’s position here. Nor does it seem plausible, as defendant suggests, that the Legislature refrained from imposing additional enhancements upon persons awaiting sentencing because such persons are already aware that any additional offense would be considered by the sentencing judge. The same would be true, of course, in the case of persons who commit a second offense while awaiting trial of guilt. That the enhancement applicable to released defendants is not applicable to others committing multiple offenses, and that only a small number of defendants are released pending sentencing, hardly seem reasons of substance for withholding an enhancement from such persons.