California v. Moses
Annotate this CaseA jury convicted Antonio Moses, III of human trafficking of a minor; attempted pimping of a minor; and pandering. In bifurcated proceedings, the trial court found Moses previously suffered a strike conviction, but dismissed four prior prison term allegations for lack of evidence. The court then imposed the high term of 12 years on count 1, doubled to 24 years based on the prior strike, and stayed under section 654 the imposition of midterm sentences for counts 2 and 3. Pertinent here, in enacting Penal Code section 236.1, the electorate specified that a defendant’s mistaken belief that the minor was of age was not a defense to attempted human trafficking. Moses contended that his conviction of human trafficking in count 1 had to be reversed based on the undisputed fact that the intended victim of his conduct was not actually a minor, but rather an undercover police officer. The Court of Appeal agreed: the plain terms of section 236.1(c) included, as a required element, the victim had to be “a person who is a minor at the time of commission of the offense.” This requirement distinguished attempted human trafficking as defined by section 236.1(c) from an ordinary criminal attempt defined in section 21a. "Because there was no evidence here of any involvement of an actual minor victim as required by the human trafficking statute under which Moses was convicted, we reverse the judgment as to count 1 and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings, including resentencing on counts 2 and 3."
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