People v. Bouzas

Opinion

LUCAS, C.J.

—We granted review to resolve a split of authority in the Courts of Appeal concerning whether a defendant charged under Penal Code section 666 (petty theft with a prior theft-related conviction) 1 may stipulate to a prior felony conviction allegation and thus preclude the jury from learning of that conviction. We conclude a defendant may so stipulate.

I. Facts and Procedure

Lee, a pharmacist at a Thrifty Drug Store, and Romero, a clerk in the pharmacy department, noticed defendant standing near the store’s pharmacy area for an unusual amount of time. Finally, they saw…