People v. Bernal
The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ROBERT BERNAL, Defendant and Appellant
- Proceeding
- appeal
- Trial court
- Superior Court of San Diego County
- Trial judge
- Robert E. May
- Outcome
- other — D018564. Fourth Dist., Div. One.
- Area
- criminal
- Panel
- Kathryn Todd (author)
Analysis
The trial court convicted Bernal of burglary and petty theft, stayed punishment for the petty theft under Penal Code section 654, and used a prior serious felony conviction to enhance his sentence. The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment, rejecting the argument that the prior conviction was void due to lack of advice regarding future enhancement use and upholding the dual convictions with stayed punishment.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Use of prior serious felony conviction for enhancement despite lack of specific advice at plea“However, possible future use of a current conviction is not a direct consequence of the conviction.” | de novo | correct | agree with court agree with court |
Entry of convictions for both burglary and petty theft“The trial court did not err in entering a judgment of conviction of both burglary and petty theft occurring during the burglary and then staying punishment for petty theft pursuant to Penal Code section 654.” | de novo | correct | agree with court agree with court |
Authorities
- relied: Bunnell v. Superior Court (1975) 13 Cal.3d 592 — When entering a guilty plea, the defendant must be advised of the direct consequences of the conviction.
- relied: People v. Crosby (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 1352 — Possible future use of a current conviction is not a direct consequence of the conviction.
- relied: People v. Lewis (1987) 191 Cal.App.3d 1288 — A defendant need not be advised of the possible future use of a conviction in the event the defendant commits a later crime.
- relied: Hartman v. Municipal Court (1973) 35 Cal.App.3d 891 — A defendant need not be advised of the possible future use of a conviction in the event the defendant commits a later crime.
- relied: People v. Stewart (1986) 185 Cal.App.3d 197 — A thief cannot be convicted of receiving the property he stole, and this rationale has been extended to preclude conviction for both burglary and receiving stolen property where the burglarious intent is to steal the property.
- relied: People v. Jaramillo (1976) 16 Cal.3d 752 — A person cannot be convicted of stealing and of receiving the same property, and a stay of punishment is not the appropriate remedy for this specific conflict.
- relied: In re Maurice H. (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 305 — Multiple convictions for burglary and theft are permitted so long as there is not multiple punishment.
- relied: People v. Lee (1980) 110 Cal.App.3d 774 — Multiple convictions for rape and burglary are permitted so long as there is not multiple punishment.
The appellate opinion: sound — sound
After a jury convicted Bernal of residential burglary and petty theft with a prior and found prior prison term and serious felony allegations true, the trial court entered judgment on both counts and stayed punishment for petty theft under Penal Code section 654. The Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that a guilty plea need not be preceded by advice that the conviction may later be used for enhancement, and that a defendant may be convicted of both burglary and theft committed during the burglary so long as section 654 bars multiple punishment.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Prior serious felony conviction (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a)) found true and used for enhancement despite no advisement at the earlier plea that the conviction could be used to enhance future punishment“A defendant need not be advised of the possible future use of a conviction in the event the defendant commits a later crime.” | de novo | correct | agree with court Bunnell requires advisement only of direct consequences of a plea; Crosby, Lewis and Hartman hold that possible future enhancement use upon commission of a later crime is a collateral, not direct, consequence. The court applied settled authority correctly. |
Entry of judgment of conviction on both burglary and petty theft arising from the same entry, with punishment on petty theft stayed under Penal Code section 654“The trial court did not err in entering a judgment of conviction of both burglary and petty theft occurring during the burglary and then staying punishment for petty theft pursuant to Penal Code section 654.” | de novo | correct | agree with court Theft is not a lesser included offense of burglary, since burglary is complete upon entry with felonious intent and requires no taking. The receiving-stolen-property line stemming from Jaramillo rests on a distinct common-law rule that a thief cannot receive his own stolen goods and does not govern burglary and theft. Maurice H. and Lee support multiple convictions with a section 654 stay. The result is consistent with the general rule under section 954 (People v. Pearson) that multiple convictions for a single act are permitted except for necessarily included offenses, though the court did not cite that authority. |
Authorities
- relied: Bunnell v. Superior Court (1975) 13 Cal.3d 592 — A defendant entering a guilty plea must be advised of the direct consequences of the conviction.
- relied: People v. Crosby (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 1352 — Possible future use of a conviction to enhance punishment for a later crime is not a direct consequence requiring advisement at the plea.
- relied: People v. Lewis (1987) 191 Cal.App.3d 1288 — Future enhancement use of a conviction is a collateral consequence of a guilty plea.
- relied: Hartman v. Municipal Court (1973) 35 Cal.App.3d 891 — Failure to advise of possible future consequences of a conviction does not invalidate the plea.
- relied: People v. Stewart (1986) 185 Cal.App.3d 197 — Discussed, but distinguished, the rule barring convictions for both burglary and receiving the property stolen in the burglary, noting the rule derives from the thief-cannot-receive principle rather than from section 654 or lesser-included-offense analysis.
- relied: People v. Jaramillo (1976) 16 Cal.3d 752 — A person cannot be convicted of both stealing and receiving the same property; a stay of punishment is not the remedy.
- relied: In re Maurice H. (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 305 — Multiple convictions for burglary and theft are permitted provided there is no multiple punishment.
- relied: People v. Lee (1980) 110 Cal.App.3d 774 — A defendant may be convicted of both burglary and the offense committed inside (rape), with section 654 limiting punishment.
- missed: People v. Pearson (1986) 42 Cal.3d 351 — Penal Code section 954 permits multiple convictions based on a single act or course of conduct except for necessarily included offenses; section 654 governs only multiple punishment, which is the governing Supreme Court framework for the burglary/theft issue.
The appellate opinion: sound with gaps — The court correctly resolved the advisement issue on settled authority and reached the right result on multiple convictions by recognizing that theft is not a lesser included offense of burglary and that the receiving-stolen-property line rests on a distinct rule. It did not, however, ground its holding in Penal Code section 954 or the Supreme Court's decision in People v. Pearson, which directly supports permitting multiple convictions and would have strengthened the analysis.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
record incompleteOpinion — Todd
*1457 Opinion
dential burglary and petty theft with a prior conviction (Pen. Code, §§ 459, 666).
At approximately 11 a.m. on December 29, 1991, Bernal entered his mother’s home in Spring Valley, went into a bedroom and stole a car stereo. His sister and mother caught him committing the crime. Bernal left on a bicycle. After the jury returned guilty verdicts of burglary and petty theft, in a bifurcated hearing it found Bernal had served three prior prison terms and had been convicted of a prior serious felony. (Pen. Code, §§ 667.5, subd. (b); 667, subd. (a).) Bernal contends the prior serious felony conviction is void because he was not advised a possible consequence of his guilty plea was future use to enhance punishment and the court erred in entering judgment for both burglary and petty theft.
I
When entering a guilty plea, the defendant must be advised of the direct consequences of the conviction. (Bunnell v. Superior Court (1975) 13 Cal.3d 592, 604 [119 Cal.Rptr. 302, 531 P.2d 1086].) However, possible future use of a current conviction is not a direct consequence of the conviction. (People v. Crosby (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 1352, 1356 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 159]; see also People v. Lewis (1987) 191 Cal.App.3d 1288, 1301 [237 Cal.Rptr. 64]; Hartman v. Municipal Court (1973) 35 Cal.App.3d 891, 893 [111 Cal.Rptr. 126].)
A defendant need not be advised of the possible future use of a conviction in the event the defendant commits a later crime.
II
Bernal also contends the trial court erred in entering convictions of both burglary and petty theft. In People v. Stewart (1986) 185 Cal.App.3d 197 [229 Cal.Rptr. 445], the defendant made an analogous argument complaining of convictions of both burglary and receiving stolen property. The People conceded and the reviewing court reluctantly agreed. In a footnote, the court discussed the problem at length: “This rule has been applied in burglary and receiving stolen property cases even though theft of property is not an element of the crime of burglary [citation], and proof that the property was stolen by someone other than defendant is not an element of the crime of receiving stolen property [citations]. Were we to write upon a clean slate *1458 we might consider a different approach. Under Penal Code section 654 a course of conduct undertaken with a single intent and objective that violates more than one statute may be punished only once. [Citation.] Although a defendant may be convicted of both violations, punishment for one must be stayed. [Citation.] This principle has been applied in instances where the defendant has committed both burglary and robbery, and where he has committed burglary and grand theft. [Citations.] It would seem to follow that where a defendant has committed burglary, and has also committed acts which fulfill all of the elements necessary for a conviction under Penal Code section 496, it would be permissible to convict him of both violations but to stay the punishment for one offense. Nevertheless, a long and unbroken line of authority holds that a thief cannot be convicted of receiving the property he stole. The Supreme Court endorsed this precept in People v. Jaramillo, [1976] 16 Cal.3d 752 [129 Cal.Rptr. 306, 548 P.2d 706], and rejected a contention that a stay of punishment is the appropriate remedy, (id. at p. 757.) Although the Jaramillo opinion did not deal with the crime of burglary and only asserted that a person cannot be convicted ‘of stealing and of receiving the same property,’ the Courts of Appeal have extended its rationale to preclude conviction for both burglary and receiving stolen property where the burglarious intent is to steal the property which is the subject of the receiving charge and the burglar in fact steals the property in the course of burglary. [Citations.] Under principles of stare decisis we will not reconsider these decisions at this late date. [Citation.]” (People v. Stewart, supra, 185 Cal.App.3d at p. 203, fn. 2.)
Neither party here has referred us to direct authority on the issue of convictions of both burglary and theft occurring during the burglary. This court has permitted multiple convictions for these two crimes so long as there is not multiple punishment. (See In re Maurice H. (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 305 [166 Cal.Rptr. 213]; see also People v. Lee (1980) 110 Cal.App.3d 774 [168 Cal.Rptr. 231] [rape and burglary].) Logically, this appears to be the correct approach since a burglary can be committed without committing a theft. Theft is not a lesser included offense of burglary. We could follow the line of authorities referred to in Stewart, supra, 185 Cal.App.3d 197 holding a defendant may not be convicted of both burglary and receiving stolen property obtained during the burglary. However, we feel the more sound analysis is to permit conviction of both crimes and apply Penal Code section 654 to avoid multiple punishment. We have been directed to no authority precluding us from taking this approach.
The trial court did not err in entering a judgment of conviction of both burglary and petty theft occurring during the burglary and then staying punishment for petty theft pursuant to Penal Code section 654.
*1459 Judgment affirmed.
Work, Acting P. J., and Benke, J., concurred.A petition for a rehearing was denied March 16, 1994, and March 25, 1994, and appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied May 11, 1994.
Cites, in this corpus
- People v. Crosby A052177 · 1992-02-26
- People v. Lewis B017827 · 1987-05-14
- People v. Stewart Crim. 14524 · 1986-09-05
- People v. Lee Crim. 11509 · 1980-09-30
- People v. Maurice H. Civ. 18702 · 1980-06-24
- People v. Jaramillo Crim. 18624 · 1976-04-26
- Bunnell v. Superior Court S.F. 23128 · 1975-02-27
- Hartman v. Municipal Court Civ. 32244 · 1973-12-10
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