People v. Guzman

• Decision Date: 21 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. S119129.,S119129.
• Citation: 107 P.3d 860,35 Cal.4th 577,25 Cal.Rptr.3d 761
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gregory GUZMAN, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

25 Cal.Rptr.3d 761

35 Cal.4th 577

107 P.3d 860

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gregory GUZMAN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S119129.

Supreme Court of California.

March 21, 2005.

Certiorari Denied October 3, 2005.

Jose R. Villarreal, Public Defender, and Seth Flagsberg, Deputy Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Manuel M. Medeiros, State Solicitor General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Ronald A. Bass and Gerald A. Engler, Assistant Attorneys General, Catherine A. Rivlin, William Kuimelis, Seth K. Schalit, Bridget Billeter and Jill M. Thayer, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

David R. LaBahn; George Kennedy, District Attorney (Santa Clara); Bonnie M. Dumanis, District Attorney (San Diego), Anthony Lovett and James Valliant, Deputy District Attorneys, for California District Attorneys Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

Certiorari Denied October 3, 2005. See 126 S.Ct. 144.

CHIN, J.

The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000(Act), which the voters of California enacted through Proposition 36, requires courts to order probation and community-based drug treatment rather than incarceration for certain criminal offenders who commit "`nonviolent drug possession offense[s]'" (NDPO's). (Pen. Code, § 1210, subd. (a).)¹ We granted review in this case to determine whether the Act violates the right of equal protection under the federal and state Constitutions by failing to make this probation requirement applicable to defendants who commit NDPO's while on probation for offenses that are not NDPO's (non-NDPO's). After concluding that under the statutory language, this requirement does not apply to such defendants, the Court of Appeal found that this omission denies equal protection because the requirement does apply to parolees who commit NDPO's while on parole after completing prison terms for non-NDPO's. (See § 3063.1, subd. (a).) To remedy this perceived constitutional violation, the Court of Appeal construed the requirement also to apply to offenders who commit NDPO's while on probation for non-NDPO's. We agree with the Court of Appeal that under the language of the governing statutes, the Act's probation requirement does not apply to offenders who commit NDPO's while on probation for non-NDPO's. However, we disagree that exclusion of these offenders violates the right of equal protection. We therefore reverse the Court of Appeal's judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In February 2001, defendant Gregory Guzman pleaded no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant (§ 273.5) and committing a misdemeanor battery upon a peace officer engaged in his duties (§§ 242, 243, subd. (b)). According to the probation report, during an argument, defendant struck his live-in girlfriend, who is also the mother of his children, in the eye and in the mouth. The first blow knocked defendant's girlfriend back into a bedroom wall and left her eyelid black and swollen; the second left her lip bloody and swollen. As police attempted to handcuff defendant, he tried to break free and yelled at the officers, calling them "fucking bitches." Defendant also spit on one of the arresting officers. Testing of a blood sample taken after his arrest revealed that defendant was under the influence of methamphetamine and phenylcyclidine. After taking defendant's plea, the court placed him on probation for three years with the condition (among others) that he serve eight months in county jail.

On October 16, 2001, in a separate action, defendant pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine and being under the influence of a controlled substance (Health & Saf.Code, §§ 11377, 11550). Both of these offenses qualify under the Act as NDPO's. (Pen.Code, § 1210.1, subd. (a).) For these convictions, the court granted probation and ordered drug treatment under the Act.

However, defendant was later arraigned on a petition to revoke the probation he received in the separate case now before us, which involves only his convictions of inflicting corporal injury and battery on a police officer. He filed a "Motion to Compel Drug Treatment Pursuant to Proposition 36." The trial court found that defendant had violated probation, denied his motion for drug treatment under the Act, and imposed the two-year mitigated prison term for his conviction of inflicting corporal injury.

The Court of Appeal reversed. Although agreeing with the trial court that under the statutory language, defendant is not eligible for mandatory probation under the Act, the Court of Appeal held that this omission violates defendant's constitutional right of equal protection because a parolee who commits an NDPO while on parole after serving a sentence for inflicting corporal injury is eligible for mandatory probation under the Act. To remedy this perceived constitutional violation, the Court of Appeal construed the Act as applying to defendant.

We then granted the People's petition for review.

DISCUSSION

I. Defendant Is Not Entitled to Probation Under the Act's Language.

Part of the threshold inquiry in assessing an equal protection claim is whether the law, in fact, accords "disparate treatment" to similarly situated persons. (People v. Raszler (1985) 169 Cal.App.3d 1160, 1166-1167, 215 Cal.Rptr. 770; see also National Union v. Arnold (1954) 348 U.S. 37, 41, 75 S.Ct. 92, 99 L.Ed. 46 [no equal protection violation absent showing "that anyone comparably situated has been treated differently from petitioner"].) Thus, the question of whether the Act denies equal protection necessarily includes the threshold question of whether probationers like defendant are entitled to mandatory probation under the Act. If they are, then the equal protection claim at issue here necessarily fails.

As we recently explained, in general terms, the Act "mandates probation and diversion to a drug treatment program for those offenders whose illegal conduct is confined to using, possessing, or transporting a controlled substance. Its provisions outline an alternative sentencing scheme for persons convicted of certain drug offenses. [Citation.] In effect, it acts as an exception to the punishment provided for certain offenses involving controlled substances. [Citation.]" (People v. Canty (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1266, 1275, 14 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 90 P.3d 1168 (Canty).)

More specifically, the Act provides that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law" and subject to specified exceptions, "any person convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense shall receive probation," and "[a]s a condition of probation ... shall [be] require[d][to] participat[e] in and complet[e] ... an appropriate drug treatment program." (§ 1210.1, subd. (a).) Under the Act, the offenses that qualify as NDPO's are "the unlawful personal use, possession for personal use, or transportation for personal use of any controlled substance identified in Section 11054, 11055, 11056, 11057 or 11058 of the Health and Safety Code, or the offense of being under the influence of a controlled substance in violation of Section 11550 of the Health and Safety Code." (Pen.Code, § 1210, subd. (a).) Thus, in the case now before us, defendant's convictions of inflicting corporal injury and battery on a police officer are not NDPO's within the meaning of the Act and do not qualify him for mandatory probation under the Act.

The Act includes a provision that addresses probationers. (§ 1210.1, subd. (e).) It refers only to two categories of probationers: (1) those who were already "on probation at the effective date of th[e][A]ct for a nonviolent drug possession offense" (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(3)(D), (E)); and (2) those who "receive[ ] probation under subdivision (a)" of section 1210.1 (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(3)(A), (B)) for "a nonviolent drug possession offense." (§ 1210.1, subd. (a).) The first time such a probationer "violates that probation ... by committing a nonviolent drug possession offense," the Act's mandatory probation provision applies unless "the state proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant poses a danger to the safety of others." (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(3)(A), (D).) After a second such violation, the mandatory probation provision applies unless "the state proves by a preponderance of the evidence either that the defendant poses a danger to the safety of others or is unamenable to drug treatment." (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(3)(B), (E).) After a third such violation, the mandatory probation provision is inapplicable. (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(3)(C), (F).) It is also inapplicable if a probationer violates the probation he received for an NDPO by committing "an offense that is not a nonviolent drug possession offense, or by violating a non-drug-related condition of probation." (§ 1210.1, subd. (e)(2).) None of these provisions applies to defendant because he was on probation for inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant and battery on a police officer, which are not NDPO's.

The Act also includes a provision that addresses parolees. It provides generally that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law" and subject to specified exceptions, "parole may not be suspended or revoked for commission of" an NDPO. (§ 3063.1, subd. (a).) Instead, a parolee committing such an offense must "participat[e] in and complet[e] ... an appropriate drug treatment program." (Ibid.) If, "during the course of drug treatment" ordered "under" this provision, a parolee "violates parole ... by committing" an NDPO, parole may not be revoked unless "a preponderance of the evidence establishes that the parolee poses a danger to the safety of others." (§ 3063.1, subd. (d)(3)(A).) A parolee committing a second such parole violation under these circumstances "is not eligible for continued parole under" the Act. (§ 3063 subd. (d)(3)(B).) A parolee also loses eligibility for continued parole under the Act by "committing an offense other than a...