People v. McKinney CA4/1

DISCUSSION

When a person is sentenced to an indeterminate term under the Three Strikes law

and a serious felony prior enhancement has been proved, the trial court must add that

enhancement to each indeterminate term. (People v. Williams (2004) 34 Cal.4th 397,

400-401, 404.) However, where a trial court uses its discretion to sentence indeterminate

terms concurrently, the accompanying serious felony prior enhancements must also be

applied to those counts. The enhancement attaches to the specific count and thus if the

count is sentenced concurrently with other indeterminate terms, the serious felony prior

enhancement is necessarily part of the concurrent sentence. (Robert L. v. Superior Court

(2003) 30 Cal.4th 894, 898-899.) Thus, if the underlying count runs concurrently with

other counts, its attached enhancements cannot run consecutively apart from their

underlying charge.

Imposing the enhancements consecutively where their underlying counts are

imposed concurrently is an unauthorized sentence which can be corrected even though

there was no objection made in the trial court. (People v. Robertson (2012) 208

Cal.App.4th 965, 995.)

The facts of the underlying…