People v. Chavez

Opinion

McCONNELL, P. J.

Richard Chavez entered guilty pleas to driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)),

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driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more (§ 23152, subd. (b)), and driving with a driver’s license suspended for a prior driving under the influence conviction (§ 14601.2, subd. (a)). He admitted a prior felony conviction of driving under the influence that makes the current offense a felony (§§ 23546, 23550.5, subd. (a)), having a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent or more

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(§ 23578) and serving a prior prison term (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)). The court denied a request to commit him to the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) and sentenced him to prison for three years—the two-year middle term for driving under the influence of alcohol with a prior felony conviction for driving under the influence, enhanced one year for the prior prison term. It stayed sentence for driving with a .08 percent or higher blood-alcohol level (Pen. Code, § 654) and imposed a concurrent term for driving with a suspended driver’s license. Chavez contends the trial court erred in refusing to consider CRC commitment.

FACTS

On April 14, 2002, a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle Chavez was driving on Highway 67 after seeing it tailgate another vehicle and swerve from lane to lane. A blood sample revealed that Chavez had a blood-alcohol level of .22 percent. Chavez has six prior convictions of driving under the influence of alcohol or driving with a .08 percent or more blood-alcohol level during the prior 13 years, one of the convictions being a felony.

DISCUSSION

Chavez contends that the trial court erred in failing to have him evaluated for commitment to CRC. Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 provides in part: “Upon conviction of a defendant for a felony, or following revocation of probation previously granted for a felony, and upon imposition of sentence, if it appears to the judge that the defendant may be addicted or by reason of repeated use of narcotics may be in imminent danger of becoming addicted to narcotics the judge shall suspend the execution of the sentence and order the district attorney to file a petition for commitment of the defendant to the Director of Corrections for confinement in the narcotic detention, treatment, and rehabilitation facility unless, in the opinion of the judge, the defendant’s record and probation report indicate such a pattern of criminality that he or she does not constitute a fit subject for commitment under this section.”