Court Opinion

ID: 9563806
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:47:30.146516+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:04.843687
License: Public Domain

MOSK, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
While I concur in the decision of the majority to retransfer this case for further consideration in light of People v. Collins, ante, page 378 [228 Cal.Rptr. 899, 722 P.2d 173], I do not believe that we should follow the dictum in People v. Jackson (1985) 37 Cal.3d 826 [210 Cal.Rptr. 623, 694 P.2d 736], on the facts before us.
Under Penal Code section 667, a defendant’s sentence may be enhanced by five years if he has previously been convicted of, inter alia, “burglary of a residence.” As the majority opinion points out, however, proof of a defendant’s prior conviction for “burglary” will not always demonstrate whether the burglary was “of a residence." Thus, we must determine how the prosecution may prove that a previous burglary conviction involved an entry into a residence and hence can serve as the basis for an enhanced sentence under Penal Code section 667.
We considered this problem in Jackson, but there the defendant admitted as part of his plea bargain that his prior burglary conviction did in fact involve a residence. We observed that the defendant was fully aware of the effect of his admission and held: “There is no rule . . . which bars the defendant from admitting that a prior burglary involved entry into a residence, even if the prosecution is unable to prove the allegation." (Id., at p. 836.) In dictum, however, we added that the prosecution should not be allowed to prove that a prior burglary conviction was residential in character unless this was admitted by the defendant in the present proceeding or was the type of burglary conviction that included entry into a residence as one of its essential elements. To hold otherwise, we suggested, would permit the People “to litigate the circumstances of a crime committed years in the past . . . [and] raise serious problems akin to double jeopardy and denial of speedy trial.” (Ibid.)
I agree that the prosecution should not be permitted to relitigate the circumstances of a past offense; this could be a substantial burden on the defendant and on the courts. Nonetheless, it seems unfair to the proper administration of justice and contrary to the legislative intent to prevent the *638prosecution from using court records to establish that the prior burglary did in fact involve a residence. It is particularly troubling in a case such as this, in which the court records from the defendant’s prior burglary conviction clearly reveal that he admitted the burglary was of a residence. The 1974 information charged defendant with burglary in that “he entered the house of Shelby Gilbert, located at 111 Bernarda Court, Oxnard, California, with intent to commit theft.” Defendant pleaded guilty to that burglary, “a violation of section 459 of the Penal Code as set forth in the Information.” (Italics added.) There is no contention that he did not receive all the required admonitions before he knowingly entered his plea admitting all the allegations of the information, specifically including that he entered the residence of the victim to commit theft.
Of course the admission concerning the residential nature of the burglary was made without the knowledge that it could one day result in an enhanced sentence for later crimes. That is true, however, of every guilty plea to a charge of felony: it is seldom entered in anticipation of the commission of future crimes. Nevertheless if there are subsequent crimes, in most instances there will be enhanced punishment.
In sum, I see no constitutional barrier to allowing the use of court records to establish the fact that the defendant admitted in open court that his prior burglary involved a residence. I would uphold the enhancement under Penal Code section 667 based on defendant’s 1974 guilty plea to a burglary involving a residence.
Lucas, J., and Panelli, J., concurred.