People v. Thornton CA1/4

Filed 10/17/25 P. v. Thornton CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A172858 v. (Alameda County JALEN JUWAN THORNTON, Super. Ct. No. 175047) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Jalen Juwan Thornton pled no contest in criminal court in 2014 to a charge of attempted murder and a related enhancement and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.1 Thornton was 16 years old at the time of the offense. In early 2025, at Thornton’s request, the trial court recalled his sentence pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.1.2 After a hearing, the court resentenced Thornton to a prison term of 17 years.

1 “We will use the terms ‘adult court’ and ‘criminal court’

interchangeably to refer to the court system for adults and juveniles who are tried as adults, and to distinguish that system from the juvenile court system, where most juvenile matters are handled.” (People v. Superior Court (Lara) (2018) 4 Cal.5th 299, 303, fn. 1 (Lara).) 2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

On appeal, Thornton contends that, upon recalling his sentence under section 1172.1, the trial court should have certified his case to juvenile court for a transfer hearing under Proposition 57 (as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 8, 2016)) (Proposition 57). The Attorney General concedes this point, and we accept the concession. We will conditionally reverse the judgment and remand for the juvenile court to determine whether it would have transferred Thornton to criminal court under current law.3 I. BACKGROUND Thornton was charged by complaint with six counts of attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664) and one count of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (§ 246), as well as firearm and gang enhancements. According to the probation report, the charges arose from two shootings on city buses in the fall of 2013. Thornton admitted his involvement in one of the shootings. In late 2014, Thornton pled no contest to one count of attempted murder, with an enhancement for personal use of a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)), as part of a plea agreement that provided he would be sentenced to prison for a term of 17 years. The prosecution dismissed the remaining charges and enhancements. Consistent with the plea agreement, the trial court imposed a 17-year prison term, which included a seven-year midterm