People v. Fernandez CA2/3

Filed 12/3/25 P. v. Fernandez CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B338350

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA123646) v.

MATTHEW ARCADO FERNANDEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, John Lonergan, Judge. Remanded with direction. Christina Vanarelli, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Wyatt E. Bloomfield and Chelsea Zaragoza, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

Matthew Fernandez was convicted in adult court of a murder committed when he was a juvenile. Years later, he petitioned for a transfer hearing under Proposition 57, which eliminated direct filing of cases involving juveniles in adult criminal court and applies retroactively to judgments that were not final on the date it became effective. The trial court denied Fernandez’s petition, finding that his judgment was final when Proposition 57 became effective. Fernandez appeals, contending that his judgment was not final when Proposition 57 became effective. We agree, and we therefore reverse the order denying the petition and remand the case. BACKGROUND In June 2012, when Fernandez was 17 years old, he committed murder. In 2013, a jury convicted Fernandez of first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)), and the jury found true personal gun use and gang allegations (§§ 12022.53, subd. (d), 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)). A court sentenced Fernandez to 50 years to life. In 2015, a different panel of this division reversed the judgment and remanded the case for reconsideration of Fernandez’s sentence under the Eighth Amendment. (People v. Fernandez (Mar. 18, 2015, B254191) [nonpub. opn.].)2 The People