People v. Collins CA3

Filed 9/10/25 P. v. Collins CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C102048

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 98883)

v.

JAMES COLLINS,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant James Collins guilty of multiple sexual assault charges. The trial court sentenced him to 120 years in state prison, including a one-year term under Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b).1 On appeal from his resentencing under section 1172.75, Collins argues the trial court erred in resentencing him to the upper term on the principal count and denied his right to have a jury determine the facts, thereby violating his due process rights, Sixth Amendment rights, and right to equal protection. We shall affirm.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

BACKGROUND In 1990, a jury found Collins guilty of 13 counts of oral copulation (§ 288a, subd. (c)); one count of sexual battery (§ 243.4); five counts of penetration with a foreign object (§ 289, subd. (a)); one count of rape (§ 261, subd. (2)); and one count of sodomy (§ 286). The jury also found true several enhancements under sections 12022.3, 12022.7, and 12022.8. The trial court found true a serious felony enhancement (§ 667, subd. (a)) and a prior prison term enhancement (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced Collins to 120 years in state prison, which included, as relevant here, the upper term of eight years on the oral copulation count (count seven) (§ 288a, subd. (c)), and a one-year sentence for the prior prison term enhancement (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation identified Collins as eligible for resentencing under section 1172.75 based on his one-year section 667.5, subdivision (b) enhancement. The prosecution agreed the trial court should dismiss the prior prison term enhancement but otherwise argued the court should leave the rest of the sentence intact. Collins asked the trial court to strike the enhancements under sections 667, subdivision (a); 667.5, subdivision (b); 12022, subdivision (b); 12022.3, subdivision (a); 12022.7; and 12022.8. Collins also argued that under section 1170, subdivision (b), he could be sentenced to no more than the middle term for count seven and the middle term for its enhancement. The trial court held a resentencing hearing and dismissed the one-year prior prison term enhancement but did not otherwise change Collins’s sentence. Collins filed a timely notice of appeal in September 2024. His opening brief was filed in March 2025, and this case became fully briefed on May 20, 2025.