People v. Carr

[228]

LANGDON, J.

Defendant was charged with rape. The information was in four counts alleging the commission of four separate offenses. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on each count, and also in each instance recommended punishment by confinement in the county jail. Judgment was thereupon pronounced, sentencing the defendant to confinement in the county jail for a period of one year on each count, the sentences to run

consecutively.

Defendant appeals claiming that the court- had no jurisdiction to impose sentence to the county jail for more than one year.

The case turns upon the construction of section 19a of the Penal Code, enacted in 1923, which provides in part: “In no case shall any person sentenced to confinement in a county or city jail on conviction of a misdemeanor, or as a condition of probation, or for any reason, be - committed for a period in excess of one year.” It is defendant’s contention that the purpose of this section is to prevent any single period of incarceration in the county jail for longer than one year; in other words, that the legislature sought to prohibit long periods of confinement in the county jail, and intended that any period longer than one year should be served in the state penitentiary.

If this was the legislative purpose, it was certainly not made clear; and we do not believe that such is the effect of the statute. .Doubtless the section will result in shorter county jail sentences in many cases, e. g., where a confinement in excess of one year was formerly permitted for a particular offense. But there is nothing in the statute to suggest that it was intended to obliterate the distinction between one crime and several crimes. On the contrary, it refers to a “case”, not cases; and to “conviction of misdemeanor”, not misdemeanors. The language plainly has reference to a single offense. A person who commits two or more misdemeanors is subject to the possible imposition of two or more separate punishments. He may be tried separately and sentenced separately on each; or hé may be charged with a number of crimes in separate counts in one information. The use of a single information is sanctioned by law and is a decided convenience, but in no way does it change the separable character of the offenses charged, nor does it alter the rules governing punishment. Section 669 of the Penal Code provides