Appellant was convicted of a murder which was committed in May, 1998, and was sentenced to 15 years to life. The trial court awarded him 336 days of actual time served, and 50 days of presentence conduct credits. In calculating the presentence conduct credits, the court limited those credits to 15 percent of the actual time served under section 2933.1, subdivision (c). On appeal, the Court of Appeal awarded appellant full conduct credits as authorized under section 4019. The California Supreme Court granted review to determine whether the 15 percent limitation on presentence conduct credits applied to convicted murderers, such as appellant, who were sentenced under the 1978 version of section 190, passed by the voters in the Briggs initiative. Appellant argued that because section 2933.1 was enacted by the Legislature without voter approval, the limitation of presentence credits was an invalid modification of the Briggs initiative. The California Supreme Court here disagreed. Because section 190 does not specifically authorize or prohibit presentence conduct credits, any limitation of such credits otherwise authorized is not an invalid modification of the Briggs initiative.
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