Court Opinion

ID: 9846427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:40:38.580498+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:29.592006
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I dissent. I am in accord with the views expressed by Justice Curtis in his dissenting opinion in this case, but I think there is an additional ground upon which the judgment should be reversed. The majority opinion takes the position that the statutory provisions relating to probation are procedural, and therefore the provisions in effect at the time the proceeding comes before the court are applicable rather than those which were in effect at the time the crime was committed or the original judgment was pronounced. I am likewise of the opinion that such provisions are procedural. Such being the case, the trial court was bound by the provisions of section 1203.2a of the Penal Code at the time it pronounced judgment on the defendant on May 10, 1943. This provision was enacted by the Legislature in 1941. Although as stated in the majority opinion it was amended in 1943, the 1941 enactment was in effect at the time judgment was pronounced. Said section then provided:
“If any person who has been released on probation is committed to a State prison for another offense, it is hereby made mandatory upon the probation officer of the county from which he was released on probation to report the commitment to the court within 30 days after being advised in writing of the commitment. Within 30 days thereafter the court shall revoke probation and impose sentence. The sentence of the court may be imposed in the absence of the defendant in such cases. In the event the probation officer fails to report such commitment to the court or the court fails to impose sentence as herein provided, such person may not thereafter be sentenced under any authority retained in the granting of the probation.”
I do not agree with the majority opinion that the 1943 amendment which added the words “in this State” after *859the words “A State prison,” constituted a mere clarification of said section. I think it is clear that the Legislature intended this section to apply to any case in which a person who had been released on probation was committed to a state prison in any state, and it was therefore applicable to the defendant in this case.
Section 1203.2a of the Penal Code was evidently enacted to overcome the effect of the ease of People v. Hunter, 42 Cal.App.2d 87 [108 P.2d 472], which opinion clearly misconstrues the provisions of the Penal Code applicable to probation, and in my opinion is unsound.
The majority opinion states: “When considered with the preceding sections, it must be concluded that there is nothing in section 1203.3 that can reasonably be construed as requiring both the revocation of probation and the pronouncement of judgment prior to expiration of the probationary period. The section has to do with the discharge of a defendant who has fully satisfied the terms and conditions of his probation.” This statement is clearly erroneous and disregards the plain language of section 1203.3 of the Penal Code. The first sentence in this section states: “The court shall have authority at any time during the term of probation to revoke, modify or change its order of suspension of imposition or execution of sentence.” Said section further provides: “. . . and in all cases, if the court has not seen fit to revoke the order of probation and impose sentence or pronounce judgment, the defendant shall at the end of the term of probation or any extension thereof, be by the court discharged subject to the provisions of these sections.” In my opinion the only rational conclusion which can be reached from the plain language of this section is that unless probation is revoked and sentence is imposed or judgment pronounced within the probationary period, the defendant must be discharged.
Therefore, on both grounds above-mentioned, the defendant was entitled to his discharge before sentence was imposed, and the judgment which imposed a sentence upon him should be reversed.