People v. Vela

230 Cal. Rptr. 3d 880, 21 Cal. App. 5th 1099
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMarch 28, 2018
DocketG052282
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 230 Cal. Rptr. 3d 880 (People v. Vela) 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. Vela, 230 Cal. Rptr. 3d 880, 21 Cal. App. 5th 1099 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MOORE, J.

*1102I

INTRODUCTION

Sixteen-year-old defendant Adrian Raphael Vela and one of his fellow gang *882members "hit up" (confronted) two suspected rival gang members. Vela's accomplice pulled out a gun and shot the two victims, killing one of them. The prosecutor directly filed charges against Vela in "adult" criminal court. The jury found Vela guilty of murder, attempted murder, and found true the related firearm and gang allegations.

Vela makes several interrelated claims of instructional error concerning accomplice liability. Vela also raises two constitutional challenges to his 72 years to life sentence. In the unpublished parts of this opinion, we will find that the trial court committed no instructional errors. Further, Vela's sentence does not violate either the equal protection clause or the Eighth Amendment.

In the published portion of this opinion, we conditionally reverse the judgment. Due to the electorate's recent approval of Proposition 57, which emphasized juvenile rehabilitation, prosecutors can no longer directly file charges against a minor in an "adult" criminal court. Only a juvenile court judge can determine whether a minor can be prosecuted and sentenced as an adult, after conducting a transfer hearing, taking into account various factors such as the minor's age, maturity, criminal sophistication, and his or her likelihood of rehabilitation. We also address the retroactivity of Senate Bill No. 620 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) as enacted, which made changes to two firearm sentencing enhancement statutes, Penal Code sections 12022.5, subdivision (c), and 12022.53, subdivision (h). (Stats. 2017, ch. 682, §§ 1, 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2018.)

We find that Vela is retroactively entitled to a transfer hearing because his case is not yet final on appeal. If, after conducting the hearing, the juvenile court judge determines that Vela's case should be transferred to a court of criminal jurisdiction, then his convictions will be reinstated. The court is then to resentence Vela within the bounds of its discretion as discussed further within this opinion. But if the juvenile court determines that Vela is amenable to rehabilitation, and should remain within the juvenile justice system, then his convictions will be deemed juvenile adjudications. The juvenile court is then to impose an appropriate disposition within its discretion under juvenile court law.

*1103II

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 Cal. Rptr. 3d 880, 21 Cal. App. 5th 1099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vela-calctapp5d-2018.