Does a judge have abused his discretion to sentence a defendant who refused to plead guilty and presented a frivolous defense?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Bolton, 152 Cal.Rptr. 141, 23 Cal.3d 208 (Cal. 1979):

In People v. Morales (1967) 252 Cal.App.2d 537, 546, 60 Cal.Rptr. 671, a trial judge was found to have abused his discretion when he imposed a consecutive sentence solely because appellant refused to plead guilty and presented what the judge considered a frivolous defense. The court stated "even if it can be gleaned from the record that the basis of the punishment imposed upon defendant in the instant case was in part the fact that he had availed himself of his right to trial and in part the nature of the crime for which he was convicted, we would be compelled to the same conclusion . . . ." (Ibid.) This reasoning applies equally to the present case. 8

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