Cal. Dep't of Corr. & Rehab. v. The Superior Court
| Docket Number | A166559 |
| Decision Date | 25 August 2023 |
| Parties | CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, Respondent; ROBERT L. ESCOBEDO, Real Party in Interest. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Alameda County Super. Ct. Nos. 20-CR-012838, 20-CR-012947 20-CR-012845, Trial Judge: Hon. Paul Delucchi
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Phillip J. Lindsay, and Sara J Romano, Senior Assistant Attorneys General, Brian C. Kinney Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Michael G. Lagrama, and Kathleen R. Walton, Deputy Attorneys General for Petitioner
No appearance for Respondent
Jonathan Soglin, and Jeremy Price, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Real Party in Interest Robert L. Escobedo
No appearance for Real Party in Interest the People
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) seeks review by extraordinary writ of an order placing defendant Robert Escobedo on felony probation pursuant to a negotiated disposition. To effectuate the plea agreement, the superior court permitted the People to withdraw a pending petition for revocation of parole that CDCR filed against Escobedo, who was on lifetime parole when he committed his current offense. (Pen. Code, § 3000.1, subd. (a)(1); statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated.) CDCR challenges the authority of the superior court to release Escobedo pursuant to a grant of probation, instead of adjudicating CDCR's parole revocation petition and returning him to prison if the court finds that he has committed a new offense. (See § 3000.08, subd. (h) (section 3000.08(h)).)
We conclude that because Escobedo was on lifetime parole, the superior court lacked authority to release him on probation after finding that he committed a new criminal offense. Once the court found Escobedo had committed another crime, it was required to remand him to the custody of CDCR. (§ 3000.08(h).) Accordingly, we grant CDCR's mandate petition.
In 1996, a jury convicted Escobedo of second degree murder and discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling, and also found true sentence enhancement allegations for personal use of a firearm. (§§ 187, subd (a), 246, 12022.5, subd (a).) Escobedo was sentenced to an aggregate prison term of 19 years to life.
In June 2016, Escobedo was released from prison and placed on parole. Because Escobedo's sentence for murder included a maximum term of life imprisonment, he was placed on lifetime parole. (§ 3000.1, subd. (a)(1).) As a lifetime parolee Escobedo faced consequences for violating parole that do not apply to people who are on parole for a defined period. Specifically, if a court determines that a person who is on lifetime parole "has committed a violation of law or violated his or her conditions of parole, the person . . . shall be remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the jurisdiction of the Board of Parole Hearings for the purpose of future parole consideration." (§ 3000.08(h).)
On September 29, 2020, the Alameda County District Attorney filed a criminal complaint charging Escobedo with two counts of forcible oral copulation with Jane Doe (§ 287, subd. (c)(2)(A)), and two counts of making criminal threats, one against Jane Doe and the other against a second victim (§ 422, subd. (a)). On September 30, the District Attorney filed a petition for revocation of Escobedo's parole due to the criminal violations alleged in the complaint. This petition did not reflect that Escobedo was on lifetime parole, notwithstanding that the District Attorney used a form petition that contains a box to be checked when the supervised person is on lifetime parole.
On October 1, 2020, CDCR filed a petition for revocation of Escobedo's parole, which did reflect Escobedo was on lifetime parole. CDCR's petition was accompanied by a "Parole Violation Report" alleging that Escobedo violated multiple laws on September 25 and 27, 2020, during or relating to nonconsensual sexual encounters, specifically: oral copulation with a nonconsenting adult (§ 287, subd. (c)(2)(A)); battery of a spouse (§ 273.5); false imprisonment (§ 236); and criminal threats (§ 422). The dates and descriptions of the criminal conduct in CDCR's petition match the allegations in the criminal complaint filed two days earlier. CDCR alleged further that Escobedo violated a special condition of his parole prohibiting him from consuming alcohol; according to CDCR's parole violation report, Escobedo admitted drinking alcohol for approximately 10 days and that his alcohol consumption played a major role in his commission of the charged offenses. CDCR's petition stated that Escobedo was subject to supervision pursuant to section 3000.1, and that if the court determined he violated parole, the court was required to remand him to the custody of CDCR.
CDCR also reported that it considered imposing intermediate sanctions but deemed them inappropriate. The report documented Escobedo's criminal history, which predates his murder conviction, five CDCR disciplinary violations Escobedo incurred while in prison, and one other parole violation for consuming alcohol and being drunk in public. CDCR reported that Escobedo had been referred to specialized treatment programs in the past, and another such referral would be inappropriate due to the high risk of recidivism and threat to public safety.
On August 16, 2022, the superior court held a change-of-plea hearing in Escobedo's criminal case. The hearing transcript references case numbers for three pending matters against Escobedo-the criminal case and the two parole revocation petitions. But when the judge requested appearances, she made no reference to CDCR. At the hearing, the Deputy District Attorney (DDA), Ms. Chavez, recited the terms of a negotiated disposition of Escobedo's criminal case: He would plead guilty or no contest to one count of violating section 422 by making criminal threats, and would admit an aggravating factor of threatening or dissuading a witness. In exchange for his plea, Escobedo would be placed on three years of felony probation and be subject to a criminal protective order protecting both victims. All remaining counts and related enhancements would be dismissed. In addition, the People agreed to dismiss "two other dockets." DDA Chavez then clarified that the People had agreed they would dismiss both parole revocation petitions before Escobedo entered a new plea admitting the section 422 felony. Defense counsel interjected that it was important to withdraw the petitions first, and the People agreed. Accordingly, the People made a formal motion to withdraw the revocation petitions, which the court granted before it proceeded to take Escobedo's plea. The matter was continued until September for sentencing.
On August 17, 2022, Ms. Martin, a parole agent supervisor from CDCR's court compliance unit, sent an email to Judge Nixon at the Alameda County superior court, DDA Chavez, and Escobedo's defense counsel. Judge Nixon was not the judge who took Escobedo's change of plea and would not be the judge to sentence him, but Martin may have been under the misconception that Escobedo's criminal case was assigned to Judge Nixon, as the purpose of her email was to share information about Escobedo's status as a lifetime parolee. Martin stated that while tracking Escobedo's cases on CDCR's computer system, she noticed a sentencing hearing was scheduled, and that parole petitions had been "withdrawn by the DA." Martin advised that because Escobedo is a "lifer parolee" subject to section 3000.1, the court was required to hold a good cause hearing as to both parole revocation petitions and, if there was good cause, to remand Escobedo to the Board of Parole Hearings. She stated further that "if [Escobedo is] convicted of the criminal charges, the Court must also remand him to the custody of CDCR where he will also be returned to prison, as he falls under the authority of the Board of Parole Hearings." And "[t]his verbiage needs to be on the minute order at sentencing," Martin continued, going into detail about how section 3000.08(h) applied in Escobedo's case.
On September 14, 2022, Escobedo appeared for sentencing before a different judge, who made a record of the fact that the court and counsel had discussed the case before the matter was called on the record, and that counsel had "enlighten[ed] the Court to some of the rationale behind the negotiated disposition." Based on that unrecorded conversation, the court accepted the plea agreement. Following submission of the matter, Escobedo was sentenced in accordance with the negotiated disposition, to a suspended sentence for a period of three years during which he would be on felony probation. Near the end of the hearing, the court observed that two parole petitions had been withdrawn on the day Escobedo changed his plea, but there was no mention or acknowledgement of the fact Escobedo was on lifetime parole. Whether agent Martin's email, or the information in it, ever found its way to the judge who sentenced Escobedo is unknown, and nobody from CDCR appeared at Escobedo's sentencing hearing.
On November 14, 2022, CDCR, represented by the Attorney General of California, filed a petition in this court for writ of mandate or other appropriate relief, seeking review of the September 2022 order placing Escobedo on probation. CDCR contends it was unlawful for the superior court to accept a negotiated plea pursuant to which the People withdrew the parole revocation petitions, prays for a writ of mandate commanding the trial court to adjudicate those petitions, and seeks such other relief as may be just and appropriate. (...
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