People v. Singleterry CA4/3

Filed 9/23/25 P. v. Singleterry CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G063730

v. (Super. Ct. No. 09WF1165)

JOHN MICHAEL SINGLETERRY, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Andre Manssourian, Judge. Vacated and remanded with directions. Siri Shetty, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Melissa Mandel and James Spradley, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant John Michael Singleterry appeals an order denying 1 his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.75. The dispositive issue is whether Singleterry is currently serving a sentence for which relief is available under the statute. Because that issue did not arise until this appeal was filed, the trial court has not had the opportunity to consider it in the first instance. We therefore vacate the court’s order and remand for further proceedings. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. TRIAL COURT PROCEEDINGS In 2012, Singleterry pleaded guilty to robbery, unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, and resisting arrest, along with attendant firearm allegations. He also admitted having served three prior prison terms within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b) (section 667.5(b)), which were based on his commission of nonviolent felonies in earlier cases. The trial court sentenced Singleterry to 12 years in prison. In so doing, the court imposed a one-year term for each of the section 667.5(b) enhancements, but it then struck that punishment for purposes of sentencing. Those enhancements are not listed in the abstract of judgment. In 2023, Singleterry petitioned the trial court to recall his sentence and resentence him pursuant to section 1172.75, which retroactively limited the applicability of section 667.5(b) to only prior prison terms that were served for sexually violent offenses. (Stats. 2019, ch. 590, § 1.) However, because Singleterry’s punishment for his section 667.5(b) enhancements was