Jones

Under Penal Code section 186.22’s subdivision (b)(4) (hereafter section 186.22(b)(4)), 1 a defendant who commits specified felonies “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct by gang members,” is punishable by life imprisonment. *569 Under section 12022.53, a 20-year sentence enhancement is imposed on any defendant who “personally and intentionally discharges a firearm” (§ 12022.53, subd. (c); hereafter section 12022.53(c)) in the commission of a “felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life” (§ 12022.53, subd. (a)(17), italics added).

Here, defendant was subject to life imprisonment because he committed a specified felony to benefit a criminal street gang. (§ 186.22(b)(4).) At issue is whether defendant committed a “felony punishable by . . . imprisonment ... for life” (§ 12022.53, subd. (a)(17)), thus triggering application of the 20-year sentence enhancement under section 12022.53(c). The answer is “yes,” as the Court of Appeal concluded.

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Defendant is a member of the East Lan Six Deuce Diamond Crips, a criminal…

Concurring. — I concur in the result reached by the majority, which permits imposition of a sentence enhancement on defendant pursuant to Penal Code section 12022.53. (All statutory references are to this code.) I write separately because I do not join in the majority’s reasoning.

As the majority explains, “[t]his case involves the interplay between two highly complex statutes: section 186.22, which targets participants in criminal street gangs, and section 12022.53, also known as ‘the 10-20-life law’ [citation], which ‘prescribes substantial sentence enhancements for using a firearm in the commission of certain listed felonies’ [citation].” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 570.) Although parsing the provisions of these statutes is tedious, addressing their interplay is not so difficult, for the Legislature has already set the ground rules. Thus, subdivision (e) of section 12022.53 specifically addresses how these two statutes interact. It provides: “(e)(1) The enhancements provided in this section shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission of an offense if both of the following are pled and proved: H] (A) The person violated subdivision (b) of Section 186.22…

Under Penal Code section 186.22's subdivision (b)(4) (hereafter section 186.22(b)(4)), [1] a defendant who commits specified felonies "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct by gang members," is punishable by life imprisonment. Under section 12022.53, a 20-year sentence enhancement is imposed on any defendant who "personally and intentionally discharges a firearm" (§ 12022.53, subd. (c); hereafter section 12022.53(c)) in the commission of a "felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life " (§ 12022.53, subd. (a)(17), italics added).

(1) Here, defendant was subject to life imprisonment because he committed a specified felony to benefit a criminal street gang. (§ 186.22(b)(4).) At issue is whether defendant committed a "felony punishable by . . . imprisonment. . . for life" (§ 12022.53, subd. (a)(17)), thus triggering application of the 20-year sentence enhancement under section 12022.53(c). The answer is "yes," as the Court of Appeal concluded.

Defendant is a member of the East Lan Six Deuce Diamond Crips, a…