People v. Piper

• Decision Date: 21 August 1986
• Citation: 722 P.2d 899,229 Cal.Rptr. 125,42 Cal.3d 471
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: , 722 P.2d 899 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Isadore Alexander PIPER, Defendant and Appellant. Crim. 24650.

Page 125

229 Cal.Rptr. 125

42 Cal.3d 471, 722 P.2d 899

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Isadore Alexander PIPER, Defendant and Appellant.

Crim. 24650.

Supreme Court of California.

Aug. 21, 1986.

Robert Fiedler, San Francisco, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for defendant and appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., and Robert R. Granucci, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

GRODIN, Justice.

This case, like People v. Equarte, 42 Cal.3d 456, 229 Cal.Rptr. 116, 722 P.2d 890, requires us to determine the proper interpretation of the "serious felony" provisions of Penal Code sections 667 and 1192.7, subdivision (c) as applied to an offense that is not expressly listed by name in the statutes. ¹ The question here is whether the trial court properly imposed a separate, additional five-year enhancement on the basis of defendant's prior conviction of shooting at an occupied vehicle ( § 246). We hold that the offense of shooting at an occupied vehicle may constitute a "serious felony" under the two categories of section 1192.7, subdivision (c) which define "serious felony" to include "any felony" in which the defendant uses a firearm or a dangerous or deadly weapon ( § 1192.7, subds.(c)(8), (c)(23)), provided it is established that the defendant personally used a firearm or a dangerous or deadly weapon in the commission of the offense. Because "personal use" was not an element of defendant's prior conviction and because under our recent decision in People v. Jackson (1985) 37 Cal.3d 826, 836, 210 Cal.Rptr. 623, 694 P.2d 736, the prosecution may not go behind the prior conviction to prove additional facts, we conclude that the five-year enhancement attributable to the conviction should be reversed.

I

In July 1983, defendant was charged by information with arson ( § 451, subd. (d)), possession of a flammable substance with intent to set a fire ( § 453, subd. (a)), and felony dissuading a witness from reporting a crime ( § 136.1, subd. (c)). The information also alleged that defendant had previously been convicted of two "serious felonies" within the meaning of sections 667 and 1192.7: (1) voluntary manslaughter and (2) shooting at an occupied vehicle. Defendant pleaded not guilty and denied the serious felony allegations.

At trial defendant was convicted of the arson and possession of flammable substance charges but was found guilty of only misdemeanor dissuading a witness. ( § 136.1, subd. (a).) The jury also found that he had suffered prior convictions of voluntary manslaughter and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

At sentencing, the court imposed the middle term of two years for the arson conviction, and added a consecutive ten-year term under section 667 on the basis of the two prior convictions. Thus, defendant's total sentence was set at 12 years. ²

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in imposing a five-year enhancement under section 667 on the basis of his shooting-at-an-occupied-vehicle prior. The Court of Appeal rejected his claim and we granted review to consider the matter with the related questions presented in People v. Equarte.

II

As noted, in this case defendant received two separate five-year enhancements under section 667. Defendant concedes that one of the enhancements was properly imposed; he acknowledges that both his present arson conviction and his prior voluntary manslaughter conviction are "serious felonies" under the explicit terms of section 1192.7, subdivisions (c)(14) and (c)(1). The only question before us is whether the second five-year enhancement--based on defendant's prior shooting-at-an-occupied-vehicle conviction--was authorized.

Unlike arson or voluntary manslaughter, shooting at an occupied vehicle is not one of the specifically named felonies enumerated in section 1192.7, subdivision (c). The Court of Appeal concluded that that prior was nonetheless properly considered a "serious felony" for purposes of section 667 under two of the more general categories of section 1192.7, subdivision (c): subdivision (c)(23)--"any felony in which the defendant personally used a dangerous or deadly weapon," and subdivision (c)(8)--" ... any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm." ³

As in Equarte, defendant contends that neither subdivision (c)(23) nor subdivision (c)(8) is applicable here on the grounds that those subdivisions do not apply (1) when use of a deadly weapon or firearm is an element of the underlying felony or (2) when an independent enhancement relating to the use of the weapon or firearm was not charged and established. ⁴ For the reasons discussed in Equarte, we find that defendant's suggested reading of subdivisions (c)(23) and (c)(8) is incompatible with the rationale of our decision in People v. Jackson, supra. Thus, we conclude that the offense of shooting at an occupied vehicle is not, by its nature, exempt from the possible application of subdivisions (c)(23) and (c)(8). If all of the factual elements of those subdivisions are adequately alleged and proven, the offense may be found to be a "serious felony" for purposes of section 667.

Nonetheless, there are problems with the Court of Appeal's invocation of the two subdivisions to support a serious felony finding in this case. Here, unlike in Equarte, the question is whether a prior conviction, rather than the current offense, is a serious felony. Jackson makes clear that--at least in the absence of a valid admission that the prior constitutes a serious felony for purposes of section 667--"proof of a prior conviction establishes only the minimum elements of the crime ... and ... the prosecution cannot go behind the record of the conviction and relitigate the circumstances of the offense to prove some fact which was not an element of the crime." (37 Cal.3d at p. 834, 210 Cal.Rptr. 623, 694 P.2d 736; see also id. at p. 836, 210 Cal.Rptr. 623, 694 P.2d 736.) Thus, the question is whether the "minimum elements" of the shooting-at-an-occupied-vehicle conviction establish all of the elements of subdivisions (c)(23) and (c)(8).

With respect to subdivision (c)(23), it is clear that the prior conviction is not sufficient. By its terms, subdivision (c)(23) applies only to a felony "in which the defendant personally used a dangerous or deadly weapon." (Italics added.) "Personal use" of a weapon is not an element of the offense of shooting at an occupied vehicle; a defendant may be convicted of that offense if he has not used a weapon but has simply aided or abetted another who used the weapon. Thus, the enhancement cannot be sustained on the basis of subdivision (c)(23).

Whether the enhancement can be sustained under subdivision (c)(8) depends on whether that category was similarly intended to apply only when the defendant has personally used a firearm in the commission of a felony. The People contend that subdivision (c)(8) should not be interpreted to require personal use, emphasizing that whereas subdivision (c)(23) specifically refers to "personal use," subdivision (c)(8) refers only to "use." For a number of reasons, we cannot accept the People's argument.

We begin with the wording of subdivision (c)(8) itself. It defines "serious felony" to mean "any other felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on any person, other than an accomplice, or any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm." (Italics added.) Although the subdivision does not expressly speak in terms of "personal use," its syntax clearly suggests that it was intended to apply only to cases in which the defendant himself uses a firearm. If the broader application--which the People propose--had been intended, it is likely that the provision would have defined serious felony to include any felony "in which a firearm is used" rather than "in which the defendant uses a firearm."

Furthermore, prior decisions interpreting similar "use" language support the conclusion that subdivision (c)(8) should be construed to require a showing of personal use. In People v. Walker (1976) 18 Cal.3d 232, 133 Cal.Rptr. 520, 555 P.2d 306, we considered whether the provisions of former section 12022.5--which authorized an additional five-year sentence for "any person who uses a firearm in the commission of [specified offenses]"--should be interpreted to apply only to those defendants who personally used a firearm. In analyzing the issue, we explained: "Generally, if a statute is intended to impose a derivative liability on some person other than the actor, there must be some legislative direction that it is to be applied to persons who do not themselves commit the proscribed act.... [T]he rules which make an accused derivatively liable for a crime which he does not personally commit, do not at the same time impose a derivatively increased punishment by reason of the manner in which a confederate commits the crime." (18 Cal.3d at pp. 241-242, 133 Cal.Rptr. 520, 555 P.2d 306.) Because former section 12022.5 contained no explicit suggestion that derivative liability was intended, we concluded in Walker that the statute should be interpreted to apply only to defendants who personally used a firearm. (See also People v. Cole (1982) 31 Cal.3d 568, 574-576, 183 Cal.Rptr. 350, 645 P.2d 1182 [reviewing history of subsequent legislative revisions of enhancement provisions relating to use of a firearm].)

Since Walker, the Legislature has been quite explicit when it intends an enhancement provision to apply to a defendant even though he himself does not commit the proscribed act. For example, section 12022, subdivision (a)--which provides a one-year enhancement for "[a]ny person who is armed with a firearm in the commission ... of a felony"--goes on specifically to provide that "[t]his additional term shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission or attempted commission of a felony if one or more of the principals is armed with a firearm, whether or not such person is personally armed...