P. v. Hill
Defendant was convicted by a jury of six drug-related crimes. Three were felonies. He thereafter waived his right to a jury on the trial of allegations under the three strikes law that he was previously convicted of two serious felonies, and on a sentence enhancement that he was on bail when he committed some of his crimes. The court denied defendants motion to dismiss the prior strike allegations under People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497 and found all of the allegations to be true. Defendant was sentenced to a total term of 77 years to life in prison.
In this appeal, defendant contends the bench trial on the enhancement allegations was equivalent to a slow plea, and therefore the court violated his constitutional rights by failing to advise him and obtain waivers of his rights not to incriminate himself and to confront and cross-examine witnesses. Defendant further contends that the court abused its discretion when it denied his Romero motion; and that his 77-year-to-life sentence imposed violates constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. In a separate petition for writ of habeas corpus, defendant claims his counsel was ineffective because he did not inform defendant of the advisability of a plea offered by the district attorney, and failed to suitably argue the Romero motion. Court find none of defendants contentions to be meritorious. Accordingly, Court affirm the judgment and deny the petition for writ of habeas corpus.
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