Is life without parole the presumptive sentence under section 190.5 of the California Penal Code?

In People v. Guinn (1994) 28 Cal.App.4th 1130 (Guinn), the court concluded that life without the possibility of parole (hereafter life without parole) is the presumptive sentence required by section 190.5. The court explained: "We believe Penal Code section 190.5 means, contrary to the apparent presumption of defendant's argument, that 16- or 17-year-olds who commit special circumstance murder must be sentenced to [life without parole], unless the court, in its discretion, finds good reason to choose the less severe sentence of 25 years to life. Our construction is based on the ordinary language and structure of the provision; in context, the word 'shall' appears to be mandatory. In addition, this construction is consistent with the history of Penal Code section 190.5, enacted as part of Proposition 115, the 'Crime Victims Justice Reform Act.' Under the former law, youthful offenders were exempted from application of the death penalty provisions. They also were excluded from application of the special-circumstance proceedings under Penal Code section 190.4, so that murderers under age 18 tried as adults were subject neither to the death penalty nor to [life without parole]. (See

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