Man who abused underage girlfriend sentenced to 18 years but due to Prop 57 could be out

Facing a trial with jury selection to begin next Monday, July 20, defendant Francisco Javier Martinez Rodriguez, age 19, generally of the Fort Bragg area, chose instead to accept the District Attorney’s one-and-only settlement proposal.

Furnishing methamphetamine to a minor, said conduct occurring on and between November 15, 2019 and December 3, 2019, along with an admission that said conduct occurred in a city park; Attempting to dissuade the victim by means of intimidation and threats of violence from reporting her victimization to law enforcement, said offense occurring on December 3, 2019 outside the Purity Market;

To events occurring in late 2019 in and about Fort Bragg, defendant Martinez Rodriguez plead guilty to the following felony crimes:
Assault with a knife (three separate acts aggregated into one count), said offenses occurring on December 3, 2019;

Child abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm, said offense occurring on or about December 3, 2019; 

Assault with a knife (three separate acts aggregated into one count), said offenses occurring on December 2, 2019;

Child abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm, said offense occurring on or about November 29, 2019;

Child abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm, said offense occurring on or about November 28, 2019; and

Child abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm (two separate acts aggregated into one count), said offenses occurring on November 28, 2019.

As an expressed condition of the DA’s settlement proposal, the defendant was required to agree to a state prison commitment of 18 years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

At the time of the above offenses, the defendant was on supervised probation for a prior June 2019 conviction for felony vehicle theft.  The defendant also admitted this morning violating the terms of that formal probation by committing the above offenses.  Pursuant to California sentencing laws and the settlement, that felony probation will be terminated as unsuccessful and the defendant will serve an additional 8 months in state prison consecutive to the aforementioned 18 years.

The defendant was also on a grant of informal probation for a prior June 2019 conviction for misdemeanor petty theft from Safeway.  The defendant also admitted this morning violating the terms of his informal probation by committing the above offenses. That probation will be terminated as unsuccessful when the defendant returns to court for global sentencing at 9 o’clock in the morning on August 28, 2020 in Department H of the Ukiah courthouse. 

The defendant’s matters were referred to the Adult Probation Department for a background study and sentencing statement.  While the ultimate sentence has been decided, the CDCR uses the sentencing reports prepared by the local probation departments to make classification and housing decisions once a defendant is transported from the local jails to CDCR.

The law enforcement agencies that developed the evidence underlying today’s convictions were the Fort Bragg Police Department and the District Attorney’s own investigators.

The prosecutor who has been handing this case since its inception is District Attorney David Eyster.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Carly Dolan accepted the defendant’s change of pleas this morning, and made express factual and legal findings that the defendant “knowingly, understandingly, and intelligently” waived his constitutional rights. Judge Dolan also made factual and legal findings that the defendant’s guilty pleas and admissions were “made freely and voluntarily.”  

Now for some discouraging news.  The voters approved Proposition 57 on the November 8, 2016 ballot.  Prop 57 allows parole consideration for “nonviolent” felons and authorizes enhanced sentence credits for rehabilitation, good behavior, and education.  

Within the meaning of Prop 57, a “nonviolent” conviction means any felony conviction that is not one of the twenty-one felonies expressly characterized as violent by the Legislature in Penal Code section 667.5(c). 

Thus, as approved by the voters, Prop 57 gives the CDCR the discretion to treat every person sent to CDCR with multiple convictions not listed in section 667.5(c) as a first time offender, and then only adopt a single count as the defendant’s whole sentence, the adopted single count being the count with the most time imposed for the single count by the local judge. 

Depending on how the prison authorities evaluate and characterize defendant Martinez Rodriguez’s overall court-imposed sentence, the single count with the most time imposed will be a sentence of nine years. Thus, despite the Mendocino County Superior Court sentencing the defendant to 18 years, 8 months, it is quite possible that the prison authorities may only require that this defendant -- with additional 50% credits for good and work time -- serve less than 4 ½ years.

“I’m quite certain that such an outcome is not what the vast majority of voters believed they were voting for when they approved Prop 57,” said DA Eyster.

Finally, the District Attorney commented on the courage of the 17-year-old victim. “She was in a bad place with a bad actor and she knew she had to escape from being under his influence if she was going to survive.  Despite his threats of further harm, she conned him into letting her go into the Purity Market where she then was able to find help. To those Purity Market employees who recognized they had a beat-up and abused child standing before them, who provided her refuge, and called the police, thank you for getting involved and saving a young life.”