Campbell

Defendant had pleaded guilty to a crime covered by Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, and received probation. At the hearing for his second drug-related violation of probation, defendant stipulated to an upper term sentence of three years as a condition of receiving outpatient treatment. Prior to the agreement, the trial court had determined that residential treatment was appropriate. After receiving probation and outpatient treatment, defendant committed a non-drug-related violation of his probation. The court revoked probation and sentenced him to the aggravated term of three years pursuant to the agreement. Defendant contends, among other things, that the trial court violated the terms of Penal Code section 1210.1, by requiring him to stipulate to an upper term in return for receiving a specific type of treatment. We hold that the trial court improperly abdicated its authority by allowing defendant to choose his treatment in exchange for a particular sentence and that defendant is not estopped from now challenging the three-year sentence when the court failed to state its reasons for imposing the sentence but simply relied on the invalid…