People v. Williams CA2/6

Filed 6/18/25 P. v. Williams CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. B336823 (Super. Ct. No. 2003030280) Plaintiff and Appellant, (Ventura County)

v.

MARCELLE WILLIAMS,

Defendant and Respondent.

The People appeal an order granting the petition of Marcelle Williams (respondent) for recall and resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d)(1)(A) (section 1170(d)(1)(A)).1 The statute provides relief to juvenile offenders who were “sentenced to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole” (LWOP). (Ibid.) Respondent does not qualify for relief under the statute because he was sentenced to imprisonment for 50 years to life with the possibility of parole.

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

The trial court concluded that equal protection principles entitled respondent to relief because his 50-year-to-life sentence was the functional equivalent of LWOP when it was imposed in 2005. We disagree and reverse. Factual and Procedural Background In February 2003 when respondent was 17 years old, he shot Joshua Pelaya twice in the back of the head. A jury convicted him of first degree murder. (§§ 187, subd. (a), 189.) It found true an allegation that he had intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. (§ 12022.53, subd. (d).) In February 2005 the trial court sentenced respondent to prison for 50 years to life – 25 years to life for the murder plus a consecutive term of 25 years to life for the firearm enhancement. We affirmed the judgment in an unpublished opinion. (People v. Williams (Apr. 26, 2006, B181625).) In February 2024 respondent petitioned the trial court “to recall his sentence pursuant to Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) & People v. Heard (2022) 83 Cal.App.5th 608 [(Heard)], & to certify the matter to juvenile court for further proceedings.” (Capitalization and Bold omitted.) Section 1170(d)(1)(A) provides: “When a defendant who was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole has been incarcerated for at least 15 years, the defendant may submit to the sentencing court a petition for recall and resentencing.” The statute “was enacted [in 2012] in response to Graham [v. Florida (2010) 560 U.S. 48, 82,] which held that the imposition of an LWOP sentence on a juvenile offender convicted of a nonhomicide offense violates the Eighth Amendment.” (People v. Lopez (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 649, 653.)