People v. Vaile

MR. JUSTICE THOMPSON (R. L.) Delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a judgment and order of life imprisonment imposed on the defendant

[259]

upon conviction of two felonies and three prior convictions of felonies formerly committed by him.

By means of an information filed in Yolo County the defendant was charged with four separate felonies, together with three prior convictions of other felonies. To each of these charges of prior convictions of felonies he pleaded guilty. To each of the major felonies charged in the information he pleaded not guilty. To each of these- last-mentioned charges he also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The second and third alleged offenses charged in the information were dismissed for lack of evidence. Upon trial the jury rendered separate verdicts finding the defendant guilty, (1) of lewd and lascivious conduct in violation of section 288 of the Penal Code, and, (2) guilty of the infamous crime against nature in violation of section 286 of the same code. The jury also rendered separate verdicts finding the defendant sane at the times of the commission of the two last-mentioned offenses. The defendant was thereupon sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison at Folsom for the term of his natural life without the benefit of parole. From this judgment the defendant has appealed.

The appellant contends that section 644 of the Penal Code, pursuant to the terms of which he was sentenced, is

ex post facto

and unconstitutional since it purports to increase the penalty by depriving the accused of the benefit of prison credits for good behavior and by denying him the right of parole on account of the three former convictions of felonies. This challenged statute reads in part: “Every person convicted in this state of any felony who shall have been previously three times convicted, either in this state or elsewhere, of any felony, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than life and shall not be eligible to parole.”

The defendant also contends that these added penalties to the punishment of an habitual criminal are in conflict with article I, section 6, of the Constitution of California, which provides in part: “Nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted.”