Is a defendant entitled to stipulate that he is a convicted felon?

Old Chief v. United States (1997) 519 U.S. 172, 117 S.Ct. 644, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 for support, but that decision reaffirms the general rule that "the prosecution is entitled to prove its case free from any defendant's option to stipulate the evidence away." (Id . at p. 189, 117 S.Ct. 644.) The general rule must bend, the high court explained, "when the point at issue is a defendant's legal status [as a convicted felon], dependent on some judgment rendered wholly independently of the concrete events of later criminal behavior charged against him." (Id . at p. 190, 117 S.Ct. 644.) Defense counsel's proposed stipulation concerned evidence from which the jury could draw the inferences necessary to reach its verdict on the stalking count; it did not concern defendant's status as a convicted felon. Old Chief 's exception to the general rule is not applicable here.

[3 Cal.5th 39]