People v. Cabrera

Filed 5/9/25; certified for publication 5/30/25 (order attached)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B339998

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA080714) v.

BRYAN CABRERA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Teresa P. Magno, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions. Bess Stiffelman, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth C. Byrne, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Blake Armstrong, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

I. INTRODUCTION

In 2006, defendant Bryan Cabrera was convicted of first degree murder for an offense he committed when he was 15 years old. He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. In 2023, defendant filed a petition for recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d)(1)(A)1 (section 1170(d)(1)(A)), which permits juvenile offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) to petition for recall and resentencing under certain circumstances. Defendant argued that because his sentence was the functional equivalent of LWOP, he was entitled to relief under section 1170(d)(1)(A). The trial court denied the petition on the grounds that a sentence of 50 years to life is not the functional equivalent of LWOP and defendant’s eligibility for a youthful offender parole hearing under section 3051 rendered the issue moot. On appeal, defendant contends the court erred in ruling his sentence of 50 years to life was not the functional equivalent of LWOP and his eligibility for a youthful offender parole hearing under section 3051 did not preclude him from seeking relief under section 1170(d)(1)(A). The Attorney General agrees, as do we. Accordingly, we reverse the court’s denial of defendant’s petition and remand the case for the court to consider whether defendant meets the other requirements for relief under section 1170, subdivision (d).