People v. Patel CA2/8

Filed 11/14/24 P. v. Patel CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B334888

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. LA069048) v.

PAWAN PATEL,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Richard H. Kirschner, Judge. Affirmed. Allen G. Weinberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Seth P. McCutcheon and Lindsay Boyd, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Defendant and appellant Pawan Patel appeals from the denial of his petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6 (former § 1170.95). Defendant requests remand for a new evidentiary hearing because the trial court failed to obtain a valid waiver of his presence. We conclude any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY In 2013, defendant pled no contest to one count of attempted murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), § 664) and three counts of robbery (§ 211). As part of his plea, defendant admitted he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of the attempted murder (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)). Defendant was sentenced to a 30-year prison term, calculated as follows: a high term of nine years for the attempted murder, plus a consecutive 20-year term for the personal firearm use enhancement, and a consecutive one-year term (one-third the midterm) on one count of robbery (the other robbery count terms were run concurrently). Defendant was awarded 1,120 days (974 actual, 146 conduct) of presentence custody credits. After defendant’s conviction, the Legislature passed two pieces of legislation amending the law regarding liability for murder and attempted murder: Senate Bill 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) which became effective January 1, 2019 (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 4) and Senate Bill 775 (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) which became effective January 1, 2022 (Stats. 2021, ch. 551, § 2). On July 26, 2022, defendant filed, with the assistance of counsel, a petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6. The parties filed briefs. The trial court found defendant had demonstrated a prima facie case, issued an order to show cause and set an evidentiary hearing.