People v. Batten

Filed 3/17/25 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A169597 v. (San Francisco City ANNETTE GAYLENE BATTEN, & County Defendant and Appellant. Super. Ct. No. CT-23012184)

Annette Gaylene Batten served a life term for murder and was released on lifetime parole in 2017. In 2023, she admitted two parole violations. Penal Code 1 section 3000.08, subdivision (h) required the court to remand her to the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). She appeals, pointing out that under a statute enacted in 2020, someone convicted of murder but released on parole after July 2020 would have been placed on parole for only three years and would therefore have been eligible for punishments other than mandatory remand to the CDCR. (§§ 3000.01, as enacted by Stats. 2020, ch. 29, § 18, 3000.08, subds. (f) & (g).) Batten argues this disparity violates equal protection principles under strict scrutiny or, in the alternative, rational basis review. We agree with the People that rational basis review applies and that there is a rational basis to treat the two groups of inmates differently. We therefore affirm.

1 Undesignated statutory citations are to the Penal Code.

1

BACKGROUND Batten was convicted of first degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison. She was released on parole in August 2017. She generally performed well on parole, and her parole agent recommended her for an early discharge from parole. But at a parole revocation hearing in December 2023, Batten admitted two violations of the conditions of her parole based on an incident in 2021: driving under the influence and failing to inform her parole agent of her resulting arrest. The trial court ordered Batten’s parole revoked and remanded her to the custody of the CDCR and the jurisdiction of the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) for future parole consideration. In June 2024, the Board denied Batten’s request for parole for one year. 2

DISCUSSION Pursuant to section 3000.1, subdivision (a), any inmate sentenced to life in prison for first or second degree murder is released on parole, if at all, for the rest of the inmate’s life. If an inmate released on lifetime parole under section 3000.1 is found to have violated the conditions of parole, the trial court must remand the parolee “to the custody of the [CDCR] and the jurisdiction of the Board of Parole Hearings for the purpose of future parole consideration.” (§ 3000.08, subd. (h).) By contrast, when most other parolees violate their parole conditions, “a trial court generally has the discretion to modify or revoke parole, including the authority to sentence the person to county jail for up to 180 days, or refer the person to a reentry court or other evidence-based program.” (People v. Reed (2024) 103 Cal.App.5th 43, 51 (Reed); § 3000.08, subds. (f) & (g).)