People v. Duncan CA2/1

Filed 12/30/24 P. v. Duncan CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, B335421

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA026890) v.

CHESTER ALAN DUNCAN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Terry Smerling, Judge. Dismissed. Jared G. Coleman, 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, Idan Ivri and Melanie Dorian, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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MEMORANDUM OPINION1 On July 2, 1997, a jury convicted appellant Chester Alan Duncan of arson (Pen. Code,2 § 451, subd. (b)). The trial court thereafter found true special allegations that Duncan had suffered two prior serious felony convictions. On July 30, 1997, the trial court sentenced Duncan to 25 years to life pursuant to the Three Strikes law on the arson conviction, plus 10 years (five years each) for the two prior serious felony enhancements pursuant to section 667, subdivision (a)(1). The court struck enhancement allegations pursuant to section 667.5, subdivision (b) (section 667.5(b)) based on Duncan having previously served two prior prison terms, finding that it was in the interest of justice to do so. More than two decades after Duncan’s sentencing, Senate Bill No. 136 (2019-2020 Reg. Sess.) amended section 667.5(b) to limit one-year prison prior enhancements to prison terms served for convictions of sexually violent offenses as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600, subdivision (b). (Stats. 2019, ch. 590, § 1.) In 2021, the Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 483 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) to apply Senate Bill No. 136 retroactively. (Stats. 2021, ch. 728, § 1.) To achieve this goal, the Legislature enacted section 1172.75 (formerly § 1171.1). (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 12; Stats. 2021, ch. 728, § 3.) Section 1172.75, subdivision (a) declares any sentence enhancement “imposed prior to January 1, 2020” pursuant to section 667.5(b), except for sexually violent offenses, to be “legally