A Strike in California criminal law is an allegation that attaches to a felony count in a charging document, either a complaint, or information. It increases the penalty for the charged crime if it can be proved that the defendant has a prior felony that is either “serious” or violent, according to one of two sections of the Penal Code.
Strikes derive from a ballot measure that passed in California in 1994, informally titled, “Three Strikes and You’re Out.” Its proponent was Mike Reynolds, a man whose daughter, Kimber, was killed when 2 men attempted to steal her purse in 1992. Both Kimber Reynolds’ perpetrators were repeat offenders. The idea was to dramatically increase prison sentences for anyone with certain prior felonies, in order to keep them “off the street.”
The background for this was the 1980s during which there were epic increases in crime in general, and violent crime in particular. 1994 was a watershed year for anti-crime legislation. At the national level, then-President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law. Among other things, this added 100,000 police officers across the nation.
Even in 1994, increasing punishment for subsequent criminal acts was not a new concept. DUI laws in the Vehicle Code, for example, have long provided increasingly severe consequences for subsequent drunk driving violations.
The Three Strikes Laws are somewhat complex, though the concept is fairly straightforward. This is because there are 2 categories of felonies to consider, “Serious” and “Violent” which are almost identical, but not quite. The basic jist of it is the following:
- Strike 1: A defendant with no prior “serious” or “violent” felony conviction who commits a serious or violent felony receives a sentence for that felony as prescribe by state law. In other words, the sentence is not increased on the first “strike.”
- Strike 2: A defendant with one prior serious or violent felony conviction who subsequently commits any type of felony has his sentence doubled.
- Strike 3: A defendant with two serious or violent felony convictions who again commit any subsequent felony receives a life sentence, with a minimum imprisonment of 25 years.
The measure also counted serious or violent felony convictions received as a minors, if the defendant was at least 16 years old at the time the crime was committed. Therefore, a minor can commit a strike and be subject to the enhanced sentencing. It also decreases the number of custody credits that a defendant sentenced for a second or third strike can receive (called “good time, work time”) in order to reduce his or her sentence.
Part of the intended impact of this new law was to take away a judge’s discretion over sentencing. “3 Strikes” basically imposes mandatory sentencing, once strikes are pled and proved. Mandatory drug sentencing had already been adopted in Federal law. Strikes are not a forgone conclusion, however. First of all, the prosecution is not required to allege a strike. Also, under what’s called a “Romero motion,” the defense can petition the court to “strike the strike” if certain criteria are met. This gives back a judge’s sentencing discretion and can dramatically reduce a defendant’s exposure.