People v. Washington CA3

Filed 8/26/24 P. v. Washington CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C099387

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 14F00282)

v.

JAMES WASHINGTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant James Washington’s 22-year aggregate prison sentence for kidnapping and inflicting a corporal injury on his spouse included one year for a prior prison term enhancement. Washington later filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6,1 and included a handwritten reference to section 1172.75 on the form petition without further elaboration.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

Effective June 30, 2022, the Legislature renumbered former section 1170.95 to section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) There were no substantive changes to the statute. Although Washington filed his petition under former section 1170.95, we cite the current section number throughout this opinion.

1

The trial court denied the section 1172.6 petition at a prima facie hearing after finding Washington ineligible for relief as a matter of law because he was not convicted or charged with any qualifying offenses, including murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter. The court did not address section 1172.75. On appeal, Washington argues that the trial court should have considered resentencing him under section 1172.75. In his reply brief, however, he acknowledges that the trial court has since resentenced him under section 1172.75, which may render his appeal moot. We conclude the trial court did not err in denying Washington’s resentencing petition under section 1172.6, and that his claim regarding section 1172.75 is moot. We shall therefore affirm the order. BACKGROUND The facts underlying Washington’s convictions are not relevant to the issue he raises on appeal. Briefly summarized, during an argument Washington physically assaulted his wife and then forced her from their home by pulling and dragging her outside and around their neighborhood against her will; he continued to hit his wife and threw her over a neighbor’s fence. A jury found Washington guilty of kidnapping (§ 207, subd. (a); count one) and inflicting a corporal injury on a spouse (§ 273.5, subd. (a); count three), and not guilty of making criminal threats (§ 422; count two). In a subsequent proceeding, the trial court found that Washington had suffered a prior strike conviction for robbery (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12) and had served a prior prison term for possession of methamphetamine for sale (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The court sentenced him to an aggregate upper term of 22 years in state prison, including one year for the prior prison term enhancement. In December 2022, Washington filed a form petition for resentencing under section 1172.6 alleging, among other things, that he had been convicted of murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter following a trial and that he could not presently be