When a defendant is sentenced under the One Strike law, the trial court retains the discretion to strike additional punishments that do not fall under that sentencing scheme. Appellant was convicted of several offenses and sentenced under Penal Code section 667.61. The trial court declined to strike the five-year enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury under Penal Code section 12022.8, holding that the One Strike law left the court with no discretion to strike the enhancement alleged under Penal Code section 12022.8. The appellate court disagreed, finding that the trial court retained the discretion to strike the great bodily injury enhancement, because it was an additional circumstance that was not necessary to the courts imposition of a sentence under the One Strike law. The court remanded the case to the trial court to give that court the opportunity to exercise its discretion to strike the enhancement pursuant to Penal Code section 1385.
Case Summaries