People v. Cross CA3

Discussion.

DISCUSSION

I. Cross II Invalidates the Stipulation and Recidivist Finding

Before trial, the prosecutor successfully moved to admit defendant’s prior acts of domestic violence against the victim, including the August 2009 incident that resulted in his conviction in case No. 09F06395. At trial, the prosecutor submitted a stipulation with the defense, which recited that defendant had been convicted in January 2010 for an incident of domestic violence in August 2009 with the same victim as the current offense. The court later instructed the jury that it must accept the facts in a stipulation as true, and that the People had the burden of proving the prior conviction beyond a reasonable doubt (though reminding the jury that the fact of the prior conviction had been the subject of a stipulation).

Because courts will not presume on a silent record that a defendant pleading guilty—an act that constitutes a conviction itself—knowingly and intelligently waived the right to a jury, the right of confrontation, and the right against compulsory self- incrimination, a trial court in accepting a guilty plea must expressly advise the defendant of these rights and solicit a waiver…