Gonzales v. Superior Court

In Gonzales v. Superior Court (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1302, the defendant argued that prior convictions for offenses not listed in section 1192.7 or section 667.5 at the time of his prior conviction could not be "strike" priors. Gonzales rejected this claim. It explained that "the Three Strikes law . . . applies to felony convictions which were neither 'serious' nor 'violent' felonies at the time of conviction, but which . . . fit the definition of a 'serious felony' or 'violent felony' on the relevant date." ( Id. at p. 1311.) Gonzales found that "the 'determination clause' [ 667, subd. (d)(1)] requires the ultimate sentencing court to determine whether, as of the date of a prior conviction, a prior conviction was a felony or misdemeanor. It does not require a contemporaneous determination, when the prior conviction occurred, that the conviction constituted a 'strike' or a 'serious felony' or [a] 'violent felony.'" ( Id. at pp. 1308, 1311.)