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People v. Chavez1/30/2004
On April 14, 2002, a San Diego County sheriff's deputy stopped a vehicle Chavez was driving on Highway 67 after seeing it tailgate another vehicle and swerve from lane to lane. A blood sample revealed that Chavez had a blood-alcohol level of .22 percent. Chavez has six prior convictions of driving under the influence of alcohol or driving with a .08 percent or more blood-alcohol level during the prior 13 years, one of the convictions being a felony.
DISCUSSION
Chavez contends that the trial court erred in failing to have him evaluated for commitment to CRC. Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 provides in part:
"Upon conviction of a defendant for a felony, or following revocation of probation previously granted for a felony, and upon imposition of sentence, if it appears to the judge that the defendant may be addicted or by reason of repeated use of narcotics may be in imminent danger of becoming addicted to narcotics the judge shall suspend the execution of the sentence and order the district attorney to file a petition for commitment of the defendant to the Director of Corrections for confinement in the narcotic detention, treatment, and rehabilitation facility unless, in the opinion of the judge, the defendant's record and probation report indicate such a pattern of criminality that he or she does not constitute a fit subject for commitment under this section."
As the People accurately point out, Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 provides for suspending execution of sentence and committing to CRC a defendant who is addicted to or in imminent danger of becoming addicted to narcotics. The term "narcotic drug" is defined in Health and Safety Code section 11019. The definition does not include alcohol. Citing People v. Beasley (1983) 145 Cal.App.3d 16, 193 Cal.Rptr. 86 [heroin], People v. Davis (1979) 92 Cal.App.3d 250, 154 Cal.Rptr. 817 [cocaine], People v. Perez (1987) 196 Cal.App.3d 686, 242 Cal.Rptr. 135 [PCP & heroin], People v. Miller (1991) 233 Cal.App.3d 1551, 285 Cal.Rptr. 410 *4 [methamphetamine], People v. Masters (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 700, 116 Cal.Rptr.2d 924 [methamphetamine], and People v. McGinnis (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 592, 105 Cal.Rptr.2d 1 [methamphetamine], Chavez argues that the courts have not limited the applicability of Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 to drugs listed in Health and Safety Code section 11019. He is mistaken regarding Beasley and Davis since Health and Safety Code section 11019 specifically lists cocaine and an opiate (heroin) as a narcotic. (Health & Saf.Code, § 11019, subds. (b), (e).) The issue **559 raised in the other cases Chavez cites were whether the trial court erred in finding the defendant was an addict or was in danger of becoming an addict; whether the trial court erred in denying work-time credit while the defendant was at CRC; and whether the trial court abused its discretion in applying the excess criminality exception to civil commitment pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051. None of these cases discussed whether the defendant was addicted or in danger of becoming addicted to a narcotic. A judicial decision is not authority for a point not passed on by the court and directly involved in the case. (Hart v. Burnett (1860) 15 Cal. 530, 598.) Since the question of whether Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 applies to defendants addicted to or in danger of becoming addicted to a substance not listed in Health and Safety Code section 11019, was not considered by the courts in the cases Chavez cites, Chavez has cited no applicable authority in support of his request that we interpret Welfare and Institutions Code section 3051 to include alcohol as a narcotic.
We reject Chavez's request that we read into Welfare and Ins
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