People v. Lee CA2/6

Filed 1/21/25 P. v. Lee CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B334436 (Super. Ct. No. 2002010272) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Ventura County)

v.

BOBBY WENDELL LEE,

Defendant and Appellant.

Bobby Wendell Lee appeals a judgment following his 2023 resentencing required by Penal Code section 1172.75.1 In 2003, he was convicted of kidnapping (§ 207, subd. (a)) and assault with a deadly weapon by force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)). The trial court imposed an aggregate third strike sentence of 38 years to life. The sentence included consecutive enhancements of 10 years for prior serious felony convictions (§§ 667, subd. (a)) and three consecutive one-year terms for prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). In 2023, the

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

court struck only the prior prison term enhancements and resentenced Lee to 35 years to life. We conclude the court did not abuse its discretion by not striking a prior strike conviction or the prior serious felony enhancements. (§ 667, subd. (a).) We affirm. FACTS Lee forced a woman, B.W., to get into a car. B.W. complied because Lee “smacked” her. After driving for 15 minutes, she asked “to be let out of the car.” Lee threatened that she “better not move . . . [or] say a word.” B.W. did not yell because she knew Lee had a knife. She later saw her cousin and screamed. Lee smacked her. B.W. jumped out of the car and “ran for [her] life.” She jumped onto the hood of another car. Lee got out of the car, pulled her off the hood, hit her, and dragged her by her hair back to the car. Lee then drove B.W. to the home of his ex-wife. There he hit her with a large brick or rock and knocked her unconscious. After his 2003 conviction for kidnapping and assault, Lee was sentenced to 38 years to life. Lee fell within the purview of the three strikes law. His sentence included three consecutive one-year prior prison term enhancements. (§ 667.5, subd. (b).) In 2022, the Legislature enacted section 1172.75. It invalidated those prior prison term enhancements. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation notified the trial court that Lee was eligible for resentencing. Lee requested the trial court to strike the section 667.5, subdivision (b) enhancements. He also claimed that due to mitigating factors, which included childhood trauma, mental health issues, and his rehabilitation efforts in prison, the court “should reduce the sentence to a determinate term.”