Valenzuela

Introduction

Under Health and Safety Code section 11370.4, subdivision (a), a person convicted of certain drug offenses must receive a sentence enhancement based on the weight of the drug involved. The enhancement, an additional prison term ranging from three to twenty-five years, increases at specified intervals as the weight of the drug increases.

In the trial court, petitioner-defendant moved to strike the sentence enhancement allegations on three counts in the information. His motion was denied. By petition for writ of mandate, he challenges the trial court’s ruling.

Two of the sentence enhancements sought against petitioner are based on the amount of heroin he allegedly offered to sell, not on the lesser amount the police actually seized. The third enhancement is based on the weight of cocaine he allegedly agreed to sell, although the police found no cocaine at all. Petitioner argues that all three enhancements are improper under section 11370.4, subdivision (a) because they are not based on the weight of an existing substance that he either sold or possessed.

The People read the sentence enhancement statute more broadly. They contend that where a defendant…