Cartwright

Effective March 7, 1994, the Legislature enacted the so-called “three strikes” law (Stats. 1994, ch. 12, §§ 1-2), as an urgency measure “to ensure longer prison sentences and greater punishment” for felons who have previously committed violent or serious felonies. (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (b).) Defendant, a brutal felon, is the quintessential target of the three strikes law. He has a 30-year criminal history, including convictions for voluntary manslaughter, rape, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. His violent sexual assaults upon three women in March 1994 resulted in nineteen felony convictions with numerous weapon use enhancements. Under the three strikes law he was sentenced to 15 indeterminate terms of 25 years to life plus a determinate term of 53 years in prison.

Defendant appeals, challenging both the constitutionality and the application of the three strikes law. We reject all his contentions and affirm the judgment. In the published portion of this opinion, we first determine that an information was filed when the complaint was deemed an information. We uphold the three strikes law as valid urgency legislation and find it does not violate the…