People v. Galindo

247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 553, 35 Cal. App. 5th 658
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMay 22, 2019
DocketA154509
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 553 (People v. Galindo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Galindo, 247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 553, 35 Cal. App. 5th 658 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

Margulies, J.

*662Defendant Sammuel Paul Galindo pled no contest to mayhem and admitted, among other things, two prior serious felony conviction allegations pursuant to a plea *555bargain. He now appeals from the trial court's imposition of a 19-year prison sentence pursuant to the negotiated plea. Defendant's sole contention on appeal is that his case must be remanded for resentencing under Senate Bill No. 1393 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1393), which allows trial courts to decide whether to strike or dismiss prior serious felony convictions, a discretionary authority they lacked at the time defendant was sentenced. The Attorney General contends defendant's appeal must be dismissed because he did not obtain a certificate of probable cause.

Recently, a split of authority has emerged among our Courts of Appeal as to whether a defendant sentenced pursuant to a stipulated sentence prior to the passage of Senate Bill 1393 must obtain a certificate of probable cause before seeking a remand for resentencing under the new law. (See People v. Kelly (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 1013, 244 Cal.Rptr.3d 394 ( Kelly ) [dismissing appeal due to lack of certificate of probable cause]; People v. Stamps (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 117, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 821 ( Stamps ) [remanding for resentencing under Sen. Bill No. 1393 ].) A similar split has arisen with respect to Senate Bill No. 620 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) concerning firearm enhancements, which like Senate Bill 1393, grants trial courts discretion they previously *663lacked to strike or dismiss the enhancements. (See People v. Fox (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 1124, 246 Cal.Rptr.3d 873 [2019 Cal.App. Lexis 409] (Fox ) [dismissing appeal due to lack of certificate of probable cause]; People v. Hurlic (2018) 25 Cal.App.5th 50, 235 Cal.Rptr.3d 255 ( Hurlic ) [remanding for resentencing under Sen. Bill No. 620 ]; People v. Baldivia (2018) 28 Cal.App.5th 1071, 239 Cal.Rptr.3d 704 ( Baldivia ) [same].) We find persuasive the analysis of a different panel of this Division in Fox , and for similar reasons conclude defendant's appeal is barred by his failure to obtain a certificate of probable cause. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 28, 2017, the Mendocino County District Attorney filed a complaint charging defendant with one count of mayhem ( Pen. Code,1 § 203; count one), and one count of criminal threats (§ 422; count two). The complaint alleged two prior strikes (§§ 667, 1170.12), two prior serious felony convictions (§ 667, subd. (a)), and three prior prison term commitments (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The same day, the Division of Adult Parole Operations filed a petition to revoke defendant's parole.

Defendant pled no contest to mayhem, one strike, two prior serious felony convictions, and admitted one prior prison term commitment, pursuant to a negotiated plea deal promising a 19-year state prison term.2 The trial court also found defendant in violation of parole pursuant to his plea. The trial court imposed the 19-year sentence on May 15, 2018. Defendant did not waive his right to appeal.

Defendant timely appealed from both the parole revocation and felony cases. On both notices of appeal, defendant checked the boxes indicating the appeals challenged the validity of the plea and were based on the sentence or other matters occurring after the plea that do not affect its validity. The trial court denied a certificate of probable cause in both cases.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Application of Senate Bill No. 1393

On September 30, 2018, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1393, which amends sections *556667, subdivision (a) and 1385, subdivision (b) to give trial courts discretion to strike or dismiss prior felony conviction enhancement allegations. (§§ 667, subd. (a), 1385, subd. (b), as amended by Stats. 2018, ch. *6641013, §§ 1, 2.) Defendant contends because the law went into effect on January 1, 2019, before the judgment in his case was final, he is entitled to a remand for a new sentencing hearing at which the trial court may decide whether to exercise its discretion to strike or dismiss the enhancements.

The Attorney General appropriately concedes that Senate Bill 1393 applies retroactively to defendant's case. Absent evidence to the contrary, when the Legislature amends a statute to either reduce the punishment for a crime or allow the trial court to exercise its " 'discretion to impose either the same penalty as under the former law or a lesser penalty,' " we assume the Legislature intends the amendment to apply to all judgments not final as of the statute's effective date. ( People v. Superior Court (Lara) (2018) 4 Cal.5th 299, 307-308 & fn. 5, 228 Cal.Rptr.3d 394, 410 P.3d 22.) Because the judgment is not yet final, Senate Bill 1393 applies retroactively in this case. ( People v. Garcia (2018) 28 Cal.App.5th 961, 973, 239 Cal.Rptr.3d 558 ; Kelly , supra , 32 Cal.App.5th at pp. 1015-1016, 244 Cal.Rptr.3d 394.)

B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 553, 35 Cal. App. 5th 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-galindo-calctapp5d-2019.