Simmons
People v. Simmons
Opinion
Opinion
Certified for Partial Publication. [*]
On March 12, 2000, 16-year-old defendant Theotis Simmons and two accomplices entered a store and robbed its owner and customers at gunpoint.
Defendant's bad conduct was accompanied by bad timing. Five days earlier, California voters approved Proposition 21, known as the "Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act of 1998." Proposition 21 amended Welfare and Institutions Code section 707, subdivision (d) (hereafter § 707(d)) to give a prosecutor the discretion to prosecute a minor either in criminal court or juvenile court when the minor is alleged to have committed a specified crime at a specified ageincluding defendant's age and the crimes that he committed. (Further section references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise specified.)
Pursuant to section 707(d), the People filed an information in criminal court charging defendant with four counts of robbery. (Pen.Code, § 211.) The information alleged that defendant was 16 years of age at the time of the crimes (§ 707, subds.(b) & (d)(1)) and personally used a firearm during the commission of the robberies (Pen.Code, § 12022.53, subd. (b)). After…