Other Cases Affecting Children

People v. Griggs (1998) 59 Cal.App.4th 557 [69 Cal.Rptr.2d 174]. Court of Appeal, Fifth District.

In an adult felony proceeding the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of stolen property and admitted allegations that he had been made a ward of the juvenile court after committing residential burglary. Pursuant to the "three strikes" law, the defendant's sentence was doubled as a result of the prior residential burglary juvenile adjudication. The defendant appealed, contending that the residential burglary juvenile adjudication was not a "prior felony conviction" as required under the "three strikes" law because it (1) was not accompanied by an express finding that he was a fit and proper subject, and (2) was not for a crime listed in Welfare and Institutions Code section 707, subdivision (b).

Residential burglary constitutes a "serious felony" under Penal Code section 1192.7; however, it is not listed in Welfare and Institutions Code section 707, subdivision (b). Therefore, it is not a strike if the "three strikes" law is read literally. The court looked at statutory intent and determined that the failure of the Legislature to include serious and violent felonies that are not listed in section 707, subdivision (b) "must be viewed as a drafting oversight. [I]t makes no sense --and would frustrate the express intent of the three strikes law (citation omitted) -- to allow the use of juvenile adjudications as `strikes' but to permit only adults to incur a `strike' as the result of an offense listed in section 667.5, subdivision (c), or section 1192.7, subdivision (c)." The court further found that the drafters of the initiative version of the "three strikes" law intended to include some but not all juvenile adjudications as strikes for sentencing purposes; however, the court found the distinction to be based on age rather than offense.