People v. White

Opinion

McCLOSKY, J. Appellant Thomas Jack White pled guilty to two counts of robbery (Pen. Code, § 2111; counts I and II), three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)(1); counts III, IV and IX), two counts of forcible oral copulation (§ 288a, subd. (c); counts V and VI), one count of forcible sodomy (§ 286, subd. (c); count VII), and one count of attempted forcible sodomy (§§ 664 and 286, subd. (c); count VHI). He further admitted that during the commission or attempted commission of the crimes charged in counts I, H, V, VI, VII and VIII, he used a deadly weapon, namely a knife (§§ 12022, subd. (b) or 12022.3).

Appellant was sentenced to state prison for a total of nine years. The trial court sentenced appellant to the midterm of three years on count I. On counts II, III, IV, VIII and IX, the trial court imposed the midterm of three years and ordered the sentence on each count to run concurrently with each other and with the sentence imposed on count I. On counts V and VII, the trial court sentenced appellant to the low term of three years. The trial court further ordered that the sentences imposed on counts V and VII run concurrently with each other but consecutively to the sentences imposed on counts I, II, III, IV, VIII and IX. The trial court then imposed the low term of three years on count VI and ordered that sentence to run consecutively to the sentences imposed on counts I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII and IX. The use allegations in counts I, II, V, VI, VII and VIII were stayed.

This appeal followed. Appellant raises only an error in sentencing (§ 1237.5; Cal. Rules of Court, rule 31(d)), contending that his “acts in compelling a homosexual couple to have sexual contact with each other do not fall within the legislative intent underlying the special sentencing standards for violent sex crimes in section 667.6, and that section should therefore not have been applied in this case.”

[287]Facts

The events underlying the offenses of which appellant was convicted commenced at approximately 11 p.m. on April 28, 1981, and continued until approximately 4 a.m. the next day. At some point during this time, appellant threw a knife towards Robert C., beat and kicked Randy L. and Larry K. and threatened them with a knife. While kicking, pounding and screaming at both, appellant ordered Randy L. and Larry K. to orally copulate and sodomize each other. Randy L. was unable to sodomize Larry K.