People v. Rackley

In People v. Rackley (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1659, the juvenile, tried as an adult offender, pled guilty to several felony charges, including murder, robbery and burglary. He was committed to the California Youth Authority, from which he immediately escaped. The juvenile was then charged with felonious escape (former Pen. Code, 4532, subd. (b)), of which he was found guilty. ( People v. Rackley, supra, at p. 1662.) On appeal, he claimed his conviction for felonious escape under section 4532, subdivision (b) had to be reversed because Welfare and Institutions Code section 871, a misdemeanor, precludes prosecution under the felony statute. (Rackley, supra, at p. 1662.) The court agreed, and reversed the defendant's conviction under Penal Code section 4532, subdivision (b). The court in Rackley held that the section did not intend to include minors as a category of "prisoner" referred to in the statute "except those minors being housed in an adult correctional facility." ( People v. Rackley, supra, 33 Cal.App.4th at p. 1668.) The court stated: "Penal Code section 4530 governs the crime of escape or attempted escape by a prisoner confined in a state prison and categorizes this crime as a felony. Welfare and Institutions Code section 1768.7 makes it a felony to escape or attempt to escape from the CYA. Finally, Welfare and Institutions Code section 871 provides that a person escaping or attempting to escape from a county juvenile home is guilty of a misdemeanor. Given this legislative scheme, it is certainly consistent that the Legislature intended Penal Code section 4532 to apply to city and county jails or prisons for adult prisoners other than state prisons." ( People v. Rackley, supra, at p. 1669.)