California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ramirez, F061072, Super. Ct. No. F10900348 (Cal. App. 2012):
Appellant cites no authority holding that a stipulation to an element of an offense must be entered into by the parties in the presence of the jury during the evidentiary portion of the trial, or authority holding that a stipulation is ineffective if the court instructs the jury that a stipulation has been entered into by the parties as part of its closing instructions. None of the cases cited by appellant involved a challenge to the validity of a stipulation based upon an alleged procedural error similar to the facts in this case. For example, People v. Valentine (1986) 42 Cal.3d 170, which is relied upon by appellant, actually held that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to
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accept a stipulation to a prior conviction as an element of a charged offense and thereafter admitting evidence of the nature of the prior offense. (Id. at pp. 173, 182-183.) And People v. Newman (1999) 21 Cal.4th 413, another case relied upon by appellant, held that the trial court was not required to advise the defendant of his trial rights before accepting a stipulation that he was previously convicted of an unspecified felony. (Id. at p. 415.) In the absence of persuasive authority, we reject appellant's position on this issue.
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