People v. Super. Ct. of Santa Clara Cty.

322 Cal.Rptr.3d 481

The PEOPLE, Petitioner,

v.The SUPERIOR COURT OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Respondent;

Sylvester Williams, Real Party in Interest.

H051569

Court of Appeal, Sixth District.

Filed June 24, 2024

Trial Court: Santa Clara County Superior Court Superior Court No.: C9925466, Trial Judge: Hon. William J. Monahan (Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. C9925466)

Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney, Kaci R. Lopez, Supervising Deputy District Attorney, David R. Boyd, Deputy District Attorney, for Petitioner.

Sylvester Williams, Christopher Matthew Van Meir, Santa Clara County Public Defender, for Real Party in Interest.

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, J.

I. INTRODUCTION

In 1999, real party in interest Sylvester Williams¹ was convicted of indecent exposure with a prior conviction (Pen. Code, § 314, subd. (1)).² As a result of prior strike convictions, he was sentenced to 25 years to life under a former version of the Three Strikes law, plus an additional two years for two prior prison term enhancements.

In 2012, Williams filed a petition for recall of sentence under the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (the Three Strikes Reform Act or Reform Act) (Prop. 36, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 6, 2012)). Under the Reform Act, some third strike defendants whose current offense is not a serious or violent felony "are excepted from the provision imposing an indeterminate life sentence [citation] and are instead sentenced in the same way as second strike defendants [citation]: that is, they receive a term equal to ‘twice the term otherwise provided as punishment for the current felony conviction’ [citation]." (People v. Conley (2016) 63 Cal.4th 646, 653, 203 Cal.Rptr.3d 622, 373 P.3d 435 (Conley).) Eligible defendants may seek resentencing pursuant to section 1170.126 of the Reform Act. However, resentencing may be denied if "the court, in its discretion, determines that resentencing the petitioner would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety." (§1170.126, subd. (f).) In this case, the trial court denied Williams’ petition after finding that he posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.

Effective in 2020, the Legislature limited the circumstances in which a prior prison term enhancement may apply and effective in 2022, enacted a statute allowing for resentencing in certain cases. (§ 667.5, subd. (b), as amended by Stats. 2019, ch. 590, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2020; former § 1171.1, added by Stats. 2021, ch. 728, § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2022, renumbered without substantive change as § 1172.75 by Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 12, eff. June 30, 2022.) Under section 1172.75, for eligible cases with a legally invalid prior prison term enhancement, the trial court in resentencing a defendant "shall … apply any other changes in law that reduce sentenced." (Id., subd. (d)(2).)

In seeking relief in the trial court in 2023 for his newly invalid prior prison term enhancements, Williams contended that in addition to striking those enhancements pursuant to section 1172.75, he was entitled to be resentenced to a maximum sentence of six years as a "two-striker" under the revised penalty provisions of the Three Strikes Reform Act because his most recent conviction was not a serious or violent felony. The People opposed resentencing Williams. The trial court ultimately determined that section 1172.75 concerning resentencing due to an invalid prior prison term enhancement did not improperly amend the Three Strikes law, that the court was required to apply the current law in resentencing Williams, and that Williams was therefore entitled to be resentenced as a second striker. The court recalled Williams’s sentence and resentenced him to six years (the upper term doubled), struck the two prior prison term enhancements, and deemed the sentence satisfied.

In the pending petition for writ of mandate in this court, the People contend that the trial court erred in applying the revised penalty provisions of the Three Strikes Reform Act (§ 1170.12), which resulted in Williams receiving a six-year sentence, when the court resentenced him under section 1172.75 due to invalid prior prison term enhancements. The People ar- gue that by applying the revised penalty provisions of the Three Strikes Reform Act when resentencing Williams under section 1172.75, the court bypassed the public safety inquiry required by section 1170.126 of the Three Strikes Reform Act, and that section 1172.75 thereby constitutes an improper amendment of the Three Strikes Reform Act. The People seek a writ of mandate directing the trial court to set aside its order recalling Williams’s sentence and to enter a new order denying Williams’s petition for resentencing under section 1172.75.

We determine that applying the revised penalty provisions of the Three Strikes Reform Act to reduce a defendant’s indeterminate life term to a determinate term when the defendant is being resentenced under section 1172.75 due to an invalid prior prison term enhancement unconstitutionally amends the resentencing procedure and requirements set forth in section 1170.126 of the voter-approved Three Strikes Reform Act. We will therefore issue a peremptory writ of mandate directing respondent court: (1) to vacate its order resentencing Williams to a six-year term, and (2) to hold a new resentencing hearing at which Williams’s sentence of 25 years to life is reinstated and at which the court may reconsider, as necessary, the court’s other sentencing orders such as those regarding custody credits and fines.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The 1999 Conviction

In 1999, Williams was convicted after court trial of indecent exposure with a prior conviction (§ 314, subd. (1)). The court also found true allegations that Williams had suffered five prior strike convictions (former §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12) and had served two prior prison terms (former § 667, subd. (b)). Williams was sentenced to 25 years to life consecutive to a two-year term for the prior prison term enhancements. This court affirmed the judgment. (People v. Williams (May 7, 2002, H021986) 2002 WL 922698 [nonpub. opn.].)

B. The 2012 Petition for Recall of Sentence Under Section 1170.126 of the Three Strikes Reform Act

In 2012, Williams filed a petition for recall of sentence under section 1170.126 of the Three Strikes Reform Act. The trial court denied the petition after finding that Williams posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. This court affirmed the order. (People v. Williams (June 24, 2015, H040681) 2015 WL 3883826 [nonpub. opn.].)

C. The 2023 Petition for Recall of Sentence and Resentencing Under Section 1172.75 Based on Invalid Prior Prison Term Enhancements

Several years later, the Legislature limited the circumstances in which a prior prison term enhancement may be imposed and provided for resentencing of certain defendants under section 1172.75. Williams was identified as having a sentence with now legally invalid prior prison term enhancements, he was appointed counsel, and in May 2023, he filed a petition seeking recall of his sentence and resentencing under section 1172.75. In the petition, Williams contended that his two prior prison term enhancements were no longer valid and should be struck. He further argued that he was entitled to a full resentencing and that the trial court should "apply ameliorative changes in the law that have been enacted since his original sentencing and re-sentence him as a two-striker" pursuant to section 1172.75, subdivision (d)(2). Williams contended that he was not subject to a three strikes sentence under current law because, among other things, his most recent conviction was not a serious or violent felony. As a "two-striker," Williams argued that his maximum sentence was six years. In making this argument, Williams contended that he was not subject to a life sentence under Section 1170.126 of the Reform Act because that section applied only to a defendant who is serving an indeterminate term of imprisonment. His sentence, however, was being recalled under section 1172.75 due to the invalid prior prison term enhancements, and thus he was no longer serving an indeterminate sentence. Williams contended that section 1170.126, regarding resentencing for third strike sentences, and section 1172.75, regarding resentencing for prior prison term enhancements, "require no harmonization" because they are "two different methods for a case to make its way back to the court for sentencing."

In opposition to the petition, the People, represented by the district attorney, contended that Williams had previously been denied a resentencing hearing under Proposition 36 (the Three Strikes Reform Act) because he posed an unreasonable risk to public safety. The People argued that Williams "did not meet the voter mandated method for retroactive application of the ameliorative provision of Proposition 36," and that he should not be permitted to "do an end run around the voter prescriptions" by utilizing the more recent legislative enactment which provides automatic resentencing in cases involving qualifying prison priors. The People contended that the Legislature did not have the authority "to enact a law to circumvent those voter mandated procedures" and that Legislature did "not have the authority to accomplish by indirect means that which [it was] not permitted to do directly."

In reply, Williams contended³ that the People’s argument was based on "the false assumption that a conviction is fixed for eternity and may never be subject to vacatur." He argued that the section 1170.126 resentencing procedures under the Three Strikes Reform Act did not apply to those, like him, whose judgments had been vacated. Williams also argued that Proposition 36 pertained to a specific resentencing scheme, not the general power of recall and vacatur by the Legislature or defendants serving sentences with prior prison term enhancements. According to Williams, the Legislature was free to address a related area that an...