Court Opinion

ID: 9558236
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:05:00.578613+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:08:30.101100
License: Public Domain

LUCAS, J.
I concur in the majority opinion insofar as it affirms the judgment, but dissent from the reversal of that portion of the judgment directing that defendant be punished by imprisonment in state prison. I believe that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in so sentencing defendant and that ample evidence supported its determination.
In People v. Carl B. (1979) 24 Cal.3d 212 [155 Cal.Rptr. 189, 594 P.2d 14], we held that the trial court erred when it rejected the uniform recommendation of the California Youth Authority (YA) and the defendant’s probation officer that defendant be found amenable to and would benefit from confinement in YA. The trial court based its rejection of the recommendation on the grounds that there was no “assurance” of the defendant’s rehabilitation in YA and that prison was appropriate in light of the seriousness of the offense and in order to protect society for a longer period. We reiterated that the applicable section (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 707.2) did not divest the trial court of discretion to sentence the defendant in a manner other than that recommended by YA. However, we emphasized that sentencing discretion “is circumscribed by the purposes which underlie that section” and to that end, on appeal, we must “determine whether there was substantial evidence to support the trial court’s implied finding of defendant’s unamenability or unsuitability ‘to training and treatment offered by the Youth Authority.’ (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 707.2.)” (24 Cal.3d at p. 218.)
We found no such substantial evidence in Carl B., concluding instead that the sentencing court “failed to accord proper weight to the YA report and recommendation” because of its reliance on two erroneous assumptions. (24 Cal.3d at p. 219.) First, the court improperly concluded that the facilities available could not appropriately deal with serious offenders. We observed that “the seriousness of defendant’s conduct, of itself, would not ordinarily constitute a legally sufficient ground to reject a YA recommen*821dation under section 707.2. It is the YA’s business to deal with serious offenders.” (Ibid.) Next, the court incorrectly assumed that YA confinement would not be for a sufficient period to protect society’s interests.
The majority here reverses on the ground that while the trial court’s decision “did not rest entirely upon considerations impermissible under our decision in Carl B., neither did it appear to give great weight to the Youth Authority’s recommendation as required by Carl. B., or declare the existence of countervailing factors of sufficient importance to justify rejection of that recommendation.” (Ante, p. 820.) I cannot agree. Initially, the majority fails to recognize that in Carl B., the recommendations of the defendant’s probation officer, a psychiatrist consultant, a clinical psychologist, and YA itself were identical: defendant was a suitable subject for YA confinement. We therefore concluded that “The unanimous opinion of those persons who have studied defendant should be given great weight.” (24 Cal.3d at p. 219, italics added.) In the present case, of course, there was no such unanimity and the weight to be accorded those “who have studied defendant” therefore must be distributed between those favoring and opposing YA commitment.
The majority summarizes the “appropriate matters” addressed by the probation officers and the court here which militated in favor of commitment to state prison. I find that list and the supporting evidence in the record convincing. (See ante, p. 818.) The 16-year-old victim was vulnerable both because she was much smaller than defendant and because she was under the influence of alcohol at the time she was murdered. She was killed in a manner described by one of the probation officers as “particularly painful and awful.” As the other officer observed, medical testimony showed that a great deal of force was used by defendant who, over “some period of time,” covered the victim’s mouth as he applied force six to eight times to her neck before finally succeeding in asphyxiating her. This was not a death caused by a single blow or a short-lived outburst: defendant repeatedly and violently strangled a struggling 16-year-old in the bedroom of his home.
Defendant then attempted to conceal his guilt, not only by moving the body, concealing articles of the victim’s clothing, and taking his own clothing to the laundry the next day, but also by attempting to place the blame on another, uninvolved person. Probation Officer Wertz, who had spent up to a dozen interviews with defendant, expressed concern that “In various conversations I have had with [defendant], his main concerned [wc] has been what’s going to happen to him, how much time he’s going to spend . . . .” The officer found unusual not petitioner’s general concern with this question but rather petitioner’s primary focus on this issue. Wertz concluded *822that state imprisonment would make a greater impression on defendant and serve the purpose of rehabilitation better.
Both Wertz, and the district attorney in argument, expressed concern about various changes in defendant’s stories about the crime. The probation officer observed that defendant “confused people with stories. He talks or attempts to justify his act by talking about problems with drugs and that seems to increase, the amount of drugs he talks about, drug use and alcohol use seem to increase the more he talks with people.” Wertz indicated he believed focusing on drug and alcohol use by defendant would possibly impede effective treatment.
In addition, Wertz alluded to another story change which the district attorney also stressed in argument. Before and during trial, defendant never admitted to sexual involvement with the victim before her death despite circumstantial evidence to the contrary. As the district attorney noted it was “only when [defendant] finally was at the Youth Authority speaking with a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist accused him of being a lier [szc] that he finally assent [szc] to the fact that he in fact had had sex with [the victim].” Both Wertz and the district attorney were troubled by the lack of clear motive for the killing. Defendant claimed he killed the victim out of fear for a friend she threatened and fear that the threat might spill over to affect him. On the other hand, he never explained his sexual encounter with the victim.
Finally, the court pointed to a juvenile record indicating increasing contacts with the juvenile system and no apparent rehabilitation. The court also stressed the particularly vicious nature of the crime, a belief that drugs and alcohol did not affect defendant’s behavior, and defendant’s acts in moving the body and formulating a scheme to avoid detection.
Under the circumstances, I believe the court went far beyond determining punishment solely on the basis of the seriousness of the crime. Faced with a division of opinion from the experts whose job it was to recommend appropriate sentencing, the court carefully considered all relevant factors before rejecting the YA recommendation. In so doing, the court relied upon proper cognizable factors supported by substantial evidence.
One does not have to agree with the court’s choice to find the court did not abuse its discretion. Discretion implies choice. Here, the judge’s choice was well within the boundaries of appropriate decisionmaking and was am*823ply supported by the evidence. Under the circumstances, I would affirm the court’s decision to sentence defendant to commitment in state prison.
Mosk, J., and Kaus, J., concurred.