PEOPLE v. GARCIA
Filed 8/28/06
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
)
v. )
Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. CM015310
__________________________________ )
Nearly 25 years ago, we held in People v. Sims (1982) 32 Cal.3d 468, that a welfare recipient who has been exonerated of fraud charges by the Department of Social Services in an administrative hearing cannot be criminally prosecuted for welfare fraud, because the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the prosecution from relitigating issues that were determined in the administrative hearing. The Attorney General urges us to reconsider our decision in Sims based, in part, on statutory changes enacted more than 20 years ago. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that these statutory and other changes do not warrant reconsideration of this court's decision in Sims.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Defendant is the mother of four children. She applied for welfare assistance, representing that her household unit consisted of herself and all of her children. A dispute arose over whether defendant's two oldest children, both boys, actually were residing in defendant's household, or instead were living with their father.
In August 2000, the Butte County Department of Social Welfare (the County) sent defendant several notices of action advising her that she had received $5,839 in welfare benefits between October 1998 and June 2000 to which she was not entitled: $3,669 in cash aid and $2,170 in food stamps. The initial notices explained that â€
