Valenzuela

People v. Valenzuela

Good Law
2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 973·209 Cal. Rptr. 3d 860·5 Cal. App. 5th 449·2016 WL 6678929
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaNovember 14, 20162d Crim. B269027California1,093 words

Opinion

Opinion

Perren, J.

*451 The crime of "street terrorism" requires, inter alia, that a person actively participate in criminal street gang activity and willfully promote, further or assist in *861 any felonious criminal conduct of the gang. (Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (a).) The enhancement for the commission of a felony for the benefit of a criminal street gang requires that the underlying crime be a felony. ( Id. , subd. (b)(1).) Here we resolve an unanticipated consequence of the passage of Proposition 47, i.e., whether a conviction for street terrorism survives after a felony conviction that is based upon the same conduct has been reduced to a misdemeanor. We hold that it does survive because, unlike with a gang enhancement, a street terrorism conviction does not require a felony conviction; it requires only that the conduct that resulted in the conviction was felonious at the time it was committed. We therefore affirm the trial court's order denying resentencing on Luis Donicio Valenzuela's street terrorism conviction.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2013, Valenzuela stole a $200 bicycle from "the person" of the victim and was convicted of grand theft. (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. (c).) In addition,…

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