section 3051,1 which guarantees defendant a future parole eligibility hearing, renders the
sentence constitutional. We hold that section 3051 complies with the central
constitutional requirement that the State provide a juvenile offender with a meaningful
opportunity to obtain release within his or her expected lifetime. For this reason we
affirm, with directions that the trial court determine whether defendant was afforded an
adequate opportunity to make a record that complies with the requirements set forth in
People v. Franklin (2016) 63 Cal.4th 261, 283-284.2
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On February 13, 2009, defendant was 16 years old. Around 10:00 that night,
defendant was riding in a car driven by an adult friend. He told the friend that he wanted
to “dump” some Mexicans, meaning he wanted to shoot or kill someone. Defendant told
the friend where to drive, pulled a gun from his pocket, and said “Watch this, watch these
1 All section references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
2 We deny defendant’s motion for judicial notice, filed September 1, 2016. The probation report and minutes from the initial sentencing are not relevant to this court’s very narrow role in making a limited remand to the trial court following People v. Franklin, supra, 63 Cal.4th at pages 283-284. (Evid. Code, § 350)
2
dicks run.”3 At this time, three Hispanic youths were walking on University Avenue in
Riverside on their way to a fast food restaurant. None of the youths were gang members.
Defendant fired four shots at the youths, hitting one in the lower back and seriously
injuring him.
At trial, defendant admitted firing the shots, but testified that he did so only
because the driver of the car told him to and that he “didn’t intend to hit nobody.”
Evidence at trial showed that defendant’s father and older brother were or had
been members of a local Crips gang. Defendant’s father was known by the moniker
“Tiptoe.” Defendant’s brother was known by the moniker “Lil’ Tiptoe.” Although
defendant himself did not have any gang tattoos, and he denied gang membership, he had
come to be known as “Baby Tiptoe.” A gang expert testified at trial that defendant
committed the shootings for gang purposes. Defendant wrote rap lyrics about cruising
around in a car and shooting rival gang members. His cell phone identified him as “Baby
Duke Killa.”
On September 15, 2010, the jury convicted defendant of a number of charges and
found true a number of enhancement allegations, as follows. First, the jury convicted
defendant of three counts of attempted murder (§§ 664/187, subd. (a)), each with a
firearm enhancement (§ 12022.53, subds. (d) & (e)) and a gang enhancement (§186.22,
subd. (b)). Second, the jury convicted defendant of one count of gang participation
3 Defendant and other members of his gang referred to members of the Hispanic gang, the Tiny Dukes, as “Tiny Diccs” or just “Diccs.”
3
(§ 186.22, subd. (a)). Third, the jury convicted defendant of two counts of assault with a
firearm (§ 245, subd. (b)), each with a firearm enhancement (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a),
12022.55) and a gang enhancement (§ 186.22, subd. (b)), and one with a great bodily
injury enhancement (§ 12022.7, subd. (a)).
On November 5, 2010, the trial court sentence defendant to 120 years to life in
prison, as follows: 15 years to life for each of the three attempted murders, plus 25 years
to life for each of the three firearm enhancements, all to run consecutively. The court
imposed a concurrent sentence of three years for the gang participation and imposed but
stayed the sentences for the assault counts pursuant to section 654.
Defendant appealed, and in opinion E052276, dated May 17, 2012, this court
modified the sentence to stay the term for gang participation pursuant to section 654.
On April 22, 2013, defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Defendant
sought resentencing, arguing that the imposition of an indeterminate sentence of 120
years to life is a de facto life sentence, which recent case law from the California
Supreme Court held violated the Eight Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment when imposed on a juvenile for a nonhomicide crime. On June 28, 2013, the
Riverside Superior Court granted the petition, vacated defendant’s sentence and ordered
the trial court to hold a resentencing hearing.
While the hearing was pending, the Legislature passed, and the governor signed,
legislation enacting section 3051, which provides for juvenile offenders in defendant’s
4
position to be afforded a parole hearing after a maximum wait of 25 years, depending on
the sentence imposed.
At the resentencing hearing held on September 20, 2013, the prosecutor took the
position that the enactment of section 3051 cured the constitutional deficiency posed by
defendant’s sentence. Defense counsel essentially conceded, stating “So he appears to
fall within this legislation, and I’ll submit to the Court’s discretion, Your Honor, as to
whether this issue was moot.” The trial court accepted the People’s argument, found that
defendant would be eligible for a parole review in 25 years under section 3051, and
resentenced defendant to 120 years to life.
Defendant now appeals.
DISCUSSION
I. Standard of Review
The issue presented is whether defendant’s sentence violates the constitutional
prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, as explained in Graham v. Florida
(2010) 560 U.S. 48 (Graham), Miller v. Alabama (2012) 567 U.S. ___, 132, S.Ct. 2455
(Miller), and People v. Caballero (2012) 55 Cal.4th 262 (Caballero), or whether the
constitutional concerns have been addressed by section 3051. Because the issue is one of
constitutional and statutory interpretation, it presents a question of law, which we review
de novo. (See Finberg v. Manset (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 529, 532 [“We review de novo
questions of interpretation and constitutionality of a statute”]; see also Greene v. Marin
County Flood Control & Water Conservation Dist. (2010) 49 Cal.4th 277, 287 [“We
5
review questions of law about the meaning of Proposition 218 [adopting provisions of the
California Constitution], as other questions of law, de novo”].)
II. Background: Graham, Miller, and Caballero
We first examine the salient United States and California Supreme Court
precedents on the issue of life sentences without parole, both for juveniles convicted of
nonhomicide offenses and those convicted of homicide offenses.
In Graham, the defendant was convicted of armed burglary with assault or battery,
and attempted armed robbery, both committed when he was 16 years old. Although the
trial court initially sentenced the defendant to probation, the court later revoked his
probation after he violated its terms by committing other crimes. The trial court then
imposed the maximum sentence on each count: life imprisonment for the armed
burglary, and 15 years for the attempted armed robbery. (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at
p. 57.) “Because Florida has abolished its parole system, [citation] a life sentence gives a
defendant no possibility of release unless he is granted executive clemency.” (Ibid.)
The United States Supreme Court held that “‘the task of interpreting the Eighth
Amendment remains [the court’s] responsibility.’” (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at p. 67.)
“The judicial exercise of independent judgment requires consideration of the culpability
of the offenders . . . in light of their crimes and characteristics, along with the severity of
the punishment in question.” (Ibid.) The court held that it was clearly established that
juveniles have lessened culpability compared to adult offenders. Consequently, they are
less deserving of the most severe punishments. “As compared to adults, juveniles have a
6
‘lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility’; they ‘are more
vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer
pressure’; and their characters are ‘not as well formed.’” (Id. at p. 68.) The court found
it “‘difficult even for expert psychologists to differentiate between the juvenile offender
whose crime reflects unfortunate yet transient immaturity, and the rare juvenile offender
be reliably classified as among the worst offenders. (Ibid.)
As to the culpability of the offenders in terms of the crimes and characteristics
under review, nonhomicide crimes that do not involve killing, intent to kill, or foreseeing
that death could occur “are categorically less deserving of the most serious forms of
punishment than are murderers.” (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at p. 69.) Some
nonhomicide crimes do involve very serious harm, but such crimes are not as morally
depraved as murder, because of a murder’s “‘severity and irrevocability.’” (Ibid.) “This
is because ‘[l]ife is over for the victim of the murderer,’ but for the victim of even a very
serious nonhomicide crime, ‘life . . . is not over and normally is not beyond repair.’”
(Ibid.) A juvenile offender “who did not kill or intend to kill has a twice diminished
moral culpability,” because of both the age of the offender and the nature of the crime.
(Ibid.)
With respect to punishment, life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) is the
second most severe penalty allowed under the law. “Life without parole is an especially
harsh punishment for a juvenile. Under this sentence a juvenile offender will on average
7
serve more years of his life in prison than an adult offender. A 16-year-old and a 75-
year-old each sentenced to life without parole receive the same punishment in name
only.” (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at p. 70.) The Supreme Court found the penological
justifications for such a sentence somewhat lacking with respect to juvenile offenders.
The objective of retribution should be directly related to personal culpability. The case
for retribution is weaker with a minor as compared to an adult; it is weaker still if the
minor did not commit a homicide. (Id. at pp. 71-72.) Deterrence also does not justify
such a severe sentence. Juveniles are less likely to understand or to be able to take
account of deterrence, because of their lack of maturity, underdeveloped sense of
responsibility, and lesser ability to consider consequences. “This is particularly so when
[the most severe] punishment is rarely imposed.” (Id. at p. 72.) Incapacitation, a third
possible penological goal, also did not justify an LWOP sentence for juvenile
nonhomicide offenders. “To justify life without parole on the assumption that the
juvenile offender forever will be a danger to society requires the sentencer to make a
judgment that the juvenile is incorrigible.” The court remarked that such a judgment is
questionable, even for expert psychologists, and noted that “‘incorrigibility is inconsistent
with youth.’” (Id. at pp. 72-73.) A penalty of life without parole “forswears altogether
the rehabilitative ideal,” by “denying the defendant the right to reenter the community,”
and making “an irrevocable judgment about [the] person’s value and place in society.”
(Id. at p. 74.) An LWOP sentence for a juvenile nonhomicide offender is incompatible
with rehabilitation as a penological goal. LWOP prisoners are, for example, foreclosed
8
from vocational training or other programs and rehabilitative services that are available to
other prisoners. In light of a juvenile’s reduced culpability and capacity for change, an
LWOP sentence, and concomitant exclusion from rehabilitative opportunities, is
inappropriate for juvenile nonhomicide offenders. (Id. at p. 74.)
The United States Supreme Court ruled that, although a state is not required to
guarantee eventual release to a juvenile nonhomicide offender, “What the State must do,
however, is give [juvenile] defendants . . . some meaningful opportunity to obtain release
based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation. It is for the State, in the first instance,
to explore the means and mechanisms for compliance.” (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at p.
75.) The court observed that some juvenile nonhomicide defendants might actually turn
out to be incarcerated for life. “Those who commit truly horrifying crimes as juveniles
may turn out to be irredeemable, and thus deserving of incarceration for the duration of
their lives. The Eighth Amendment does not foreclose the possibility that persons
convicted of nonhomicide crimes committed before adulthood will remain behind bars
for life. It does forbid States from making the judgment at the outset that those offenders
never will be fit to reenter society.” (Ibid.) The court fashioned a categorical rule that
“gives all juvenile nonhomicide offenders a chance to demonstrate maturity and reform.
The juvenile should not be deprived of the opportunity to achieve maturity of judgment
and self-recognition of human worth and potential. . . . Life in prison without the
possibility of parole gives no chance for fulfillment outside prison walls, no chance for
reconciliation with society, no hope. Maturity can lead to that considered reflection
9
which is the foundation for remorse, renewal, and rehabilitation. A young person who
knows that he or she has no chance to leave prison before life’s end has little incentive to
become a responsible individual. In some prisons, moreover, the system itself becomes
complicit in the lack of development. As noted above, . . . it is the policy in some prisons
to withhold counseling, education, and rehabilitation programs for those who are
ineligible for parole consideration. A categorical rule against life without parole for
juvenile nonhomicide offenders avoids the perverse consequence in which the lack of
maturity that led to an offender’s crime is reinforced by the prison term.” (Id. at p. 79.)
The United States Supreme Court held that “[t]he Constitution prohibits the imposition of
a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. A
State need not guarantee the offender eventual release, but if it imposes a sentence of life
it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end
of that term.” (Id. at p. 82.)
In Miller, the United States Supreme Court addressed the imposition of LWOP
terms for juveniles who were convicted of homicide offenses. The court held that
“mandatory life without parole for those under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes
violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘cruel and unusual punishments.’”
(Miller, supra, 132 S.Ct. at p. 2460.)
The court began with the principle that “children are constitutionally different
from adults for purposes of sentencing. Because juveniles have diminished culpability
and greater prospects for reform, we explained, ‘they are less deserving of the most
10
severe punishments.’” (Miller, supra, 132 S.Ct. at p. 2464.) The United States Supreme
Court line of precedents on that issue set out “three significant gaps between juveniles
and adults. First, children have a ‘“lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of
responsibility,”’ leading to recklessness, impulsivity, and heedless risk-taking. [Citation.]
Second, children ‘are more vulnerable . . . to negative influences and outside pressures,’
including from their family and peers; they have limited ‘contro[l] over their own
environment’ and lack the ability to extricate themselves from horrific, crime-producing
settings. [Citation.] And third, a child’s character is not as ‘well formed’ as an adult’s;
his traits are ‘less fixed’ and his actions less likely to be ‘evidence of irretrievabl[e]
deprav[ity].’ [Citation.]” (Ibid.) The Miller court stated, “To be sure, [the] flat ban on
life without parole applied [in Graham, supra, 560 U.S. 48] only to nonhomicide crimes,
and the Court took care to distinguish those offenses from murder, based on both moral
culpability and consequential harm. [Citation.] But none of what it said about children—
about their distinctive (and transitory) mental traits and environmental vulnerabilities—is
crime-specific. Those features are evident in the same way, and to the same degree,
when [e.g.,] a botched robbery turns into a killing. So Graham’s reasoning implicates
any life-without-parole sentence imposed on a juvenile, even as its categorical bar relates
only to nonhomicide offenses.” (Miller, supra, 132 S.Ct. 2455 at p. 2465.)
Sentencing schemes that mandate LWOP for juveniles tried as adults “prevent the
sentence from taking account of these central considerations. By removing youth from
the balance—by subjecting a juvenile to the same life-without-parole sentence applicable
11
to an adult—these laws prohibit a sentencing authority from assessing whether the law’s
harshest term of imprisonment proportionately punishes a juvenile offender. That
contravenes Graham’s . . . foundational principle: that imposition of a State’s most
severe penalties on juvenile offenders cannot proceed as though they were not children.”
(Miller, supra, 132 S.Ct. 2455 at p. 2466.)
In making its categorical rule, that LWOP sentences cannot be imposed upon
juveniles, Graham analogized the effect of the LWOP sentence on juveniles to the death
penalty. That analogous correspondence made relevant “a second line of our precedents,
demanding individualized sentencing when imposing the death penalty.” (Miller, supra,
132 S.Ct. 2455 at p. 2467.) The United States Supreme Court found of special
significance “that a sentencer have the ability to consider the ‘mitigating qualities of
youth.’ [Citation.]” (Ibid.) Mandatory LWOP sentencing was flawed because it, “by
[its] nature, preclude[d] a sentencer from taking account of an offender’s age and the
wealth of characteristics and circumstances attendant to it. Under these schemes, every
juvenile will receive the same sentence as every other—the 17-year-old and the 14-year-
old, the shooter and the accomplice, the child from a stable household and the child from
a chaotic and abusive one. And still worse, each juvenile . . . will receive the same
sentence as the vast majority of adults committing similar homicide offenses—but really,
as Graham noted, a greater sentence than those adults will serve.” (Miller, supra, 132
S.Ct. 2455 at pp. 2467-2468.) The court declined to make a categorical bar on LWOP
sentences for juveniles who commit homicide crimes, but, given its relevant decisions in
12
other cases, the court opined that “appropriate occasions for sentencing juveniles to this
harshest possible penalty will be uncommon. That is especially so because of the great
difficulty . . . of distinguishing at this early age between ‘the juvenile offender whose
crime reflects unfortunate yet transient immaturity, and the rare juvenile offender whose
crime reflects irreparable corruption.’ [Citations.] Although we do not foreclose a
sentencer’s ability to make that judgment in homicide cases, we require it to take into
account how children are different, and how those differences counsel against irrevocably
sentencing them to a lifetime in prison.” (Id. at p. 2469.) Individualized sentencing is
required when imposing the harshest penalties. The court stated, in its conclusion, that “a
judge or jury must have the opportunity to consider mitigating circumstances before
imposing the harshest possible penalty for juveniles.” (Id. at p. 2475.)
In Caballero, supra, 55 Cal.4th 262, the California Supreme Court considered the
sentence for a 16-year-old juvenile who had fired a gun at three members of a rival gang.
Two of the victims were unhurt; the third was injured but survived. The defendant was
convicted of three counts of attempted murder, plus enhancements for personal discharge
of a firearm, gang enhancements, and a great bodily injury enhancement as to one victim.
He received a sentence of 15 years to life for the first attempted murder, plus 25 years to
life for the firearm enhancement. He was sentenced to a consecutive term of 15 years to
life for the second attempted murder count, plus 20 years for the firearm enhancement.
He was sentenced to another consecutive term of 15 years to life on the third attempted
13
murder count, plus 20 years for the firearm enhancement. The defendant’s total term was
110 years to life. (Id. at p. 265.)
The California Supreme Court determined that the sentence of 110 years to life
was the functional equivalent of an LWOP sentence, and was governed by Graham’s ban
on LWOP sentences for juveniles in nonhomicide cases. (Caballero, supra, 55 Cal.4th at
pp. 267, fn. 3, 268.) The defendant would become parole-eligible only after serving 110
years according to section 3046, subdivision (b). (Id. at p. 268.) “Graham’s analysis
does not focus on the precise sentence meted out. Instead . . . it holds that a state must
provide a juvenile offender ‘with some realistic opportunity to obtain release’ from prison
during his or her expected lifetime.” (Ibid.) The Supreme Court concluded that
“sentencing a juvenile offender for a nonhomicide offense to a term of years with a
parole eligibility date that falls outside the juvenile offender’s natural life expectancy
constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Although proper authorities may later determine that youths should remain incarcerated
for their natural lives, the state may not deprive them at sentencing of a meaningful
opportunity to demonstrate their rehabilitation and fitness to reenter society in the future.
Under Graham’s nonhomicide ruling, the sentencing court must consider all mitigating
circumstances attendant in the juvenile’s crime and life, including but not limited to his
or her chronological age at the time of the crime, whether the juvenile offender was a
direct perpetrator or an aider and abettor, and his or her physical and mental
development, so that it can impose a time when the juvenile offender will be able to seek
14
parole from the parole board.” (Id. at pp. 268-269.) The court ordered that juvenile
offenders who had received LWOP or de facto equivalent sentences for nonhomicide
crimes would be eligible to petition for writs of habeas corpus, “in order to allow the
[trial] court to weigh the mitigating evidence in determining the extent of incarceration
required before parole hearings. Because every case will be different, we will not
provide trial courts with a precise timeframe for setting these future parole hearings in a
nonhomicide case. However, the sentence must not violate the defendant’s Eighth
Amendment rights and must provide him or her a ‘meaningful opportunity to obtain
release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation’ under Graham’s mandate.”
(Id. at p. 269.)
III. Legislative Response: Senate Bill No. 260 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.)
The Legislature, in response, enacted Senate Bill No. 260 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.).
The bill, which became effective January 1, 2014, added section 3051, which provides an
opportunity for most juvenile offenders to obtain a parole hearing within their expected
lifetimes.
Section 3051, subdivision (b)(1), provides that a youth offender sentenced to a
determinate sentence, “shall be eligible for release on parole at a youth offender parole
hearing by the board during his or her 15th year of incarceration, unless previously
released pursuant to other statutory provisions.” Section 3051, subdivision (b)(2),
provides that a youth offender sentenced to a life term of less than 25 years to life, “shall
be eligible for release on parole by the board during his or her 20th year of incarceration
15
at a youth offender parole hearing,” unless otherwise released or entitled to earlier parole
consideration under other provisions. And section 3051, subdivision (b)(3), provides that
a youth offender sentenced to a term of 25 years to life, “shall be eligible for release on
parole by the board during his or her 25th year of incarceration at a youth offender parole
hearing,” unless otherwise released or is eligible for an earlier parole hearing date under
other provisions.
As a result of this new provision, most youth offenders would be eligible for a
parole hearing after a maximum of 25 years of incarceration, within the normal life
expectancy of a juvenile. It does not apply, however, to three strikes sentences, one
strike sentences, or LWOP sentences, or to those who commit certain additional offenses
after reaching the age of 18. (§ 3051, subd. (h).)
Section 3051, subdivision (e), states that, “The youth offender parole hearing to
consider release shall provide for a meaningful opportunity to obtain release. The board
shall review and, as necessary, revise existing regulations and adopt new regulations
regarding determinations of suitability made pursuant to this section, subdivision (c) of
Section 4801, and other related topics, consistent with relevant case law, in order to
provide that meaningful opportunity for release.” Section 4801, subdivision (c), in turn,
provides: “(c) When a prisoner committed his or her controlling offense . . . prior to
attaining 18 years of age, the board, in reviewing a prisoner’s suitability for parole
pursuant to Section 3041.5, shall give great weight to the diminished culpability of
juveniles as compared to adults, the hallmark features of youth, and any subsequent
16
growth and increased maturity of the prisoner in accordance with relevant case law.”
Section 3051, subdivision (f), echoes and expands on the requirements of section 4801,
subdivision (c): “(1) In assessing growth and maturity, psychological evaluations and
risk assessment instruments, if used by the board, shall be administered by licensed
psychologists employed by the board and shall take into consideration the diminished
culpability of juveniles as compared to that of adults, the hallmark features of youth, and
any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the individual. [¶] (2) Family
members, friends, school personnel, faith leaders, and representatives from community-
based organizations with knowledge about the individual before the crime or his or her
growth and maturity since the time of the crime may submit statements for review by the
board. [¶] (3) Nothing in this section is intended to alter the rights of victims at parole
hearings.” (§ 3051, subd. (f).)
In enacting section 3051, the Legislature made the following declaration of intent:
“The Legislature finds and declares that, as stated by the United States Supreme Court in
Miller v. Alabama (2012) 183 L.Ed.2d 407, ‘only a relatively small proportion of
adolescents’ who engage in illegal activity ‘develop entrenched patterns of problem
behavior,’ and that ‘developments in psychology and brain science continue to show
fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds,’ including ‘parts of the brain
involved in behavior control.’ The Legislature recognizes that youthfulness both lessens
a juvenile’s moral culpability and enhances the prospect that, as a youth matures into an
adult and neurological development occurs, these individuals can become contributing
17
members of society. The purpose of this act is to establish a parole eligibility mechanism
that provides a person serving a sentence for crimes that he or she committed as a
juvenile the opportunity to obtain release when he or she has shown that he or she has
been rehabilitated and gained maturity, in accordance with the decision of the California
Supreme Court in People v. Caballero (2012) 55 Cal.4th 262 and the decisions of the
United States Supreme Court in Graham v. Florida (2010) 560 U.S. 48, and Miller v.
Alabama (2012) 183 L.Ed.2d 407. Nothing in this act is intended to undermine the
California Supreme Court’s holdings in In re Shaputis (2011) 53 Cal.4th 192, In re
Lawrence (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1181, and subsequent cases. It is the intent of the
Legislature to create a process by which growth and maturity of youthful offenders can
be assessed and a meaningful opportunity for release established.” (Stats. 2013, ch. 312,
§ 1.)
The People urge that the enactment of section 3051 moots defendant’s claim that
his Eighth Amendment rights were violated, because there are no longer any de facto
sentences of life imprisonment without parole for most youthful offenders, inasmuch as
some meaningful parole opportunity will be offered after a maximum of 25 years’
imprisonment. Defendant argues that section 3051 does not obviate the requirements set
forth in Graham, Miller and Caballero that the trial court must take account of the
offender’s status as a juvenile in selecting the sentence to be imposed.
18
IV. Sentencing for Juvenile Offenders Must Satisfy the Central Constitutional
Requirement Set Forth in the United States Supreme Court and California Supreme Court
Precedents—A Meaningful Opportunity To Obtain Release Within the Expected Lifetime
Based on Demonstrated Maturity and Rehabilitation.
We have examined the relevant foundational precedents (e.g., Graham, Miller,
and Caballero), and we discern the following rules or standards with respect to imposing
LWOP sentences on offenders whose commitment offense occurred when they were a
juvenile.
First, Graham imposed a categorical ban on LWOP sentences for nonhomicide
offenses committed by juveniles. The State must provide such juvenile defendants “some
meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and
rehabilitation. It is for the State, in the first instance, to explore the means and
mechanisms for compliance.” (Graham, supra, 560 U.S. 48 at p. 75.) Although the
dissent cites Graham as mandating an individualized sentencing decision by the trial
court, this requirement is in fact nowhere to be found in Graham. What Graham actually
mandates is, as stated above, the chance to obtain release base on demonstrated maturity
and rehabilitation. This crucial determination cannot in most cases be achieved at
sentencing because the juvenile offender will not yet have had to opportunity to exhibit
these traits. Rehabilitation and maturity await the passage of time before they can
reliably reveal themselves, and this is precisely what Graham directs. Further, as it
considers whether LWOP sentences can constitutionally be imposed on juveniles for
19
nonhomicide offenses, the Graham court actually discounts the general reliability of an
individualized sentencing determination at trial as opposed to a guaranteed parole hearing
for a juvenile defender in the future. The court points to the following deficiencies risked
by case-by-case consideration at sentencing: (1) the accuracy and reliability of a
sentencing choice are compromised when the brutality of a particular crime overpowers
the considerations of youth, immaturity and vulnerability; (2) the immaturity of the
juvenile, described in detail in Graham is “likely to impair the quality of a juvenile
defendant’s representation”; and (3) the juvenile nonhomicide offender must be given “a
chance to demonstrate maturity and reform.” (Id. at pp.77-79) Graham simply does not
mandate an individual sentencing determination at trial. Rather, Graham stresses the
central importance of allowing a juvenile offender to demonstrate his or her rehabilitation
and maturity, after the passage of time, at a guaranteed parole hearing. This is the
remedy provided by section 3051.
Second, Caballero extended the Graham ban to include not only explicit LWOP
sentences but also de facto LWOP sentences. A de facto LWOP sentence is one that is
not explicitly designated a life sentence, but in which a juvenile offender’s “parole
eligibility date . . . `falls outside his or her natural life expectancy.” (Caballero, supra, 55
Cal.4th at pp. 262, 291.) Defendant’s sentence in this case, 120 years to life, is a de facto
LWOP sentence.
Third, Miller imposes a ban on mandatory LWOP for homicide crimes committed
by juveniles. To implement this ban, Miller requires the sentencing court to provide an
20
individualized sentencing determination, “considering an offender’s youth and attendant
characteristics” before imposing LWOP in homicide cases. The Miller court declines to
extend Graham’s categorical ban on LWOP sentences to juvenile homicide offenders,
choosing instead to mandate the individualized sentencing to safeguard a juvenile
offender’s Eighth Amendment Rights. (Miller, supra, 132 S.Ct. 2455 at p. 2465.) We
note that Miller does not state that its holding applies to nonhomicide cases. This is not
surprising because, as Miller acknowledges, Graham bans LWOP in nonhomicide cases.
We disagree with the dissent’s conclusion that Miller requires the trial court to make an
individualized sentencing decision as to juvenile offenders before imposing a de facto
LWOP sentence in a nonhomicide case. Miller devised its individualized sentencing
scheme to safeguard juvenile defendants convicted of homicide offenses from receiving a
mandatory LWOP sentence. Miller does not impose such a scheme as a constitutional
requirement where, after Caballero, a juvenile nonhomicide offender can no longer
receive an LWOP sentence.
To reiterate, after Graham and Caballero, both LWOP and de facto LWOP have
been eliminated as possible sentencing choices for juveniles who commit nonhomicide
crimes. The possibility that a juvenile can receive the “State’s harshest penalties” is the
Miller court’s clearly stated rationale for the individualized sentencing mandate. This
possibility no longer exists in California for a juvenile convicted of a nonhomicide crime.
For this reason, section 3051 is fully consistent with Miller.
21
Fourth, while Caballero does envision an individualized determination at
sentencing like the one set forth for homicide cases in Miller, the focal point of Caballero
is the end result required by Graham and by the Eight Amendment—that a juvenile
offender must have a reasonable opportunity to obtain parole within his or her lifetime
upon a showing of rehabilitation. In fact, the Caballero court emphasizes that Graham
was not focused on “the precise sentence meted out,” but rather on the opportunity to
obtain release from prison during the juvenile’s expected lifetime. (Caballero, supra, 55
Cal.4th at p. 268.) Section 3051, as described in detail above, provides just this
opportunity no later than 25 years into the sentence, while the typical defendant is in his
or her early forties. We recognize that Caballero sees the Graham ruling being
implemented by the trial court at sentencing; that the sentencing court would consider the
defendant’s individual circumstances to impose a sentence that would allow for parole
review within the defendant’s expected lifetime. “Under Graham’s nonhomicide ruling,
the sentencing court must consider all mitigating circumstances attendant in the
juvenile’s crime and life, including but not limited to his or her chronological age at the
time of the crime, whether the juvenile offender was a direct perpetrator or an aider and
abettor, and his or her physical and mental development . . . .” (Caballero at pp. 268-
269.) However, in the very same sentence Caballero very clearly identifies the whole
point of this entire endeavor: “[S]o that it can impose a time when the juvenile offender
will be able to seek parole from the parole board. The Board of Parole Hearings will then
determine whether the juvenile offender must be released from prison ‘based on
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demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.’ [Citation.]” (Id. at p. 269.) This is precisely
what section 3051 accomplishes, following the directive of Graham that “It is for the
State, in the first instance, to explore the means and mechanisms for compliance.”
(Graham, supra, 560 U.S. 48 at p. 75.)
V. Section 3051 Is a Valid and Efficient Mechanism for Providing a Juvenile
Nonhomicide Offender with a Meaningful Opportunity for Release
For the following reasons, and based on the case law set forth above, we conclude
that the definite parole eligibility schedule, devised by the Legislature, as requested by
the Caballero court, and described in section 3051, is both constitutionally permissible
and an orderly mechanism to provide juveniles convicted as adults of serious
nonhomicide crimes with a meaningful opportunity for release within their lifetime.
First, section 3051 has abolished de facto life sentences. Caballero, supra, 55
Cal.4th 262, defines a de facto life sentence as “a term of years with a parole eligibility
date that falls outside the juvenile offender’s natural life . . . .” (Id. at p. 268.) Section
3051 eliminates such sentences altogether by virtue of its provision for mandatory parole
eligibility hearings after no more than 25 years in prison.
Second, the California Supreme Court in Caballero specifically asked the
Legislature to enact a law that works precisely as does section 3051 for prisoners like
defendant who are already serving a de facto life term: “We urge the Legislature to enact
legislation establishing a parole eligibility mechanism that provides a defendant serving a
de facto life sentence without possibility of parole for nonhomicide crimes that he or she
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committed as a juvenile with the opportunity to obtain release on a showing of
rehabilitation and maturity.” (Caballero, supra, 55 Cal.4th at p. 269, fn. 5.) Again,
section 3051 answers this request from the Caballero court. Section 3051 “establish[es]
a parole eligibility mechanism” that allows such prisoners to obtain parole if they can
show “rehabilitation and maturity” after a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Third, section 3051 provides certainty and predictability to both juvenile offenders
and sentencing courts. The individualized determination at sentencing that defendant
advocates would in practice be far more problematic than section 3051’s uniform
opportunity for parole after the number of years specified. Section 3051 frees the
sentencing courts to follow the existing, familiar if convoluted, sentencing laws that can
result in sentences such as defendant’s 120-years-to-life term. Without section 3051,
sentencing courts tasked with avoiding de facto LWOP sentences would in some
instances have to resort to imposing sentences that are not authorized by statute in order
to engineer a parole eligibility date that is constitutionally permissible. Section 3051
allows the current sentencing scheme to continue without upheaval. The statute simply
and clearly makes the current sentencing scheme constitutional by providing each
juvenile offender, universally and on a specified schedule, with the meaningful
opportunity for release within their lifetime that the Eighth Amendment demands.
This analysis is consistent with the recent California Supreme Court decision in
People v. Franklin, supra, 63 Cal.4th 268. In addition, the Franklin court recognized
that, in order to fulfill the requirements of sections 3051 and 4801, the defendant must be
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“afforded sufficient opportunity to make a record of information relevant to his eventual
youth offender parole hearing” at the time of sentencing. (Franklin, supra, at pp. 283-
284.)
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed. We remand to the trial court for the limited purpose of
determining whether defendant was afforded an adequate opportunity to make a record of
information that will be relevant to the California Board of Parole Hearings as it fulfills
its statutory obligations under sections 3051 and 4801.
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION RAMIREZ P. J.
We concur:
HOLLENHORST J.
McKINSTER J.
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AI Brief
AI-generated · verify before citing
Holding. Penal Code section 3051 provides juvenile offenders with a constitutionally sufficient meaningful opportunity for parole, thereby curing the constitutional deficiency of a de facto life sentence. The court affirmed the sentence but remanded for the trial court to ensure the defendant had an adequate opportunity to create a record of mitigating evidence as required by People v. Franklin.
Issues
Does Penal Code section 3051 render a juvenile's de facto life sentence constitutional?
Must the trial court ensure the defendant had an opportunity to create a record of mitigating evidence under People v. Franklin?
Disposition. Affirmed with directions
Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion
“We hold that section 3051 complies with the central constitutional requirement that the State provide a juvenile offender with a meaningful opportunity to obtain release within his or her expected lifetime.”
“For this reason we affirm, with directions that the trial court determine whether defendant was afforded an adequate opportunity to make a record that complies with the requirements set forth in People v. Franklin (2016) 63 Cal.4th 261, 283-284.”