In re Williams

234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 600, 24 Cal. App. 5th 794
California Court of Appeal, 5th District·Decided June 20, 2018·No. No. B286241·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

ZELON, J.

*796On December 29, 2016, the Board of Parole Hearings found Petitioner Antuan Williams suitable for parole under the youth offender provisions of Penal Code sections 3051 and 4801, subdivision (c). Although that decision became final on April 24, 2017, Williams was not released but required to serve an additional consecutive, eight-year term for a conviction he sustained while in prison when he was 26 years old. Williams argues that the Board's decision requiring him to serve the consecutive term after he was granted parole was unlawful. We agree.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 1991, Williams, then age 21, was convicted of first degree murder under Penal Code section 187 and sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of 28 *797years to life.1 In 1996, while serving his sentence, Williams pleaded guilty to battery on a non-prisoner (§ 4501.5), for which he was sentenced to an eight year consecutive term to be served after the completion of his life term. (§ 1170.1, subd. (c); In re Thompson (1985) 172 Cal.App.3d 256, 218 Cal.Rptr. 192 ( Thomson ).)

On December 29, 2016, Williams became eligible for a youth offender parole hearing. ( §§ 3051 and 4801, subd. (c).) The Board found him suitable for parole, concluding that "Mr. Williams does not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society or a threat to public safety." The panel observed that Williams was still required to serve a consecutive eight year term for his 1996 in-prison offense, the so-called Thompson term. On May 1, 2017, the Board sent Williams a notice that his release date had been updated to August 25, 2022.

Williams filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in Los Angeles County Superior Court, arguing that he was in custody unlawfully and should be released because he had been granted youth offender parole. The trial court denied the petition on October 3, 2017, holding that because Williams was 26 years old when he pleaded guilty to the in-prison battery offense, he was required under section 1170.1, subdivision *602(c) and Thompson to serve the consecutive term.

Williams filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this court on November 13, 2017, asserting that, under the terms of the youth offender parole statute, he was entitled to release on April 24, 2017.

DISCUSSION

The legal question presented by this petition is whether a youth offender granted parole under section 3051 is required to serve a consecutive sentence for an in-prison offense committed after age 25.

A. The Youth Offender Parole Process

The Legislature adopted section 3051 in response to a seminal series of cases in which the United States Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court recognized that "children are constitutionally different from adults for purposes of sentencing" because, due to their "diminished culpability and greater prospects for reform, ... 'they are less deserving of the most severe punishments.' " ( Miller v. Alabama (2012) 567 U.S. 460, 471, [132 S.Ct. 2455, 2464, 183 L.Ed.2d 407] ( Miller ), quoting *798Graham v. Florida (2010) 560 U.S. 48, 68, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 ( Graham ); People v. Caballero (2012) 55 Cal.4th 262, 145 Cal.Rptr.3d 286, 282 P.3d 291 ( Caballero ).) The Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment " 'encompasses the "foundational principle" that the "imposition of a State's most severe penalties on juvenile offenders cannot proceed as though they were not children." ( Miller , [at p.] 474 [132 S.Ct. at p. 2466 ].) From this principle, the high court has derived a number of limitations on juvenile sentencing: (1) no individual may be executed for an offense committed when he or she was a juvenile ( Roper v. Simmons (2005) 543 U.S. 551, 578 [125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1] ); (2) no juvenile who commits a nonhomicide offense may be sentenced to LWOP ( Graham, supra, 560 U.S. at p. 74, [130 S.Ct. 2011] ); and (3) no juvenile who commits a homicide offense may be automatically sentenced to LWOP ( Miller , at p. 465 [132 S.Ct. at p. 2460 ] ).' [Citation.]" ( In re Trejo (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 972, 980, 216 Cal.Rptr.3d 855 ( Trejo ).)

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In re Williams, 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 600, 24 Cal. App. 5th 794 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

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