People v. Lugo CA2/3

Filed 12/10/25 P. v. Lugo CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B340190

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. XSCTA102418

ANGEL ARTURO LUGO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Tammy Chung Ryu, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.

James Koester, 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, Noah P. Hill and Steven E. Mercer, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION1 Angel Arturo Lugo appeals from his judgment of conviction after resentencing—specifically, from the trial court’s conclusion that it did not have jurisdiction to revisit the restitution order imposed in 2005. The parties agree the court erred, and the case must be remanded for the court to exercise its discretion to determine whether to modify the restitution order. This is the fourth appeal in this case. The relevant facts and procedural history appear in our previous opinions. In a nutshell, in December 1999, Lugo repeatedly stabbed Christopher Davis with a knife, killing him. Lugo’s defense at trial was alibi: he and his fiancée testified they were asleep in bed when Davis was stabbed. The jury convicted Lugo of first degree murder and found true the allegation that he’d personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon—a knife—in the murder. (People v. Lugo (June 27, 2002, B152166) [nonpub. opn.] (Lugo I).) The trial court granted Lugo’s motion for a new trial, concluding it had erred in instructing the jury. The People appealed and another panel of this court reversed the order, finding the instructional error was harmless. (Lugo I.) On remand, the trial court sentenced Lugo to 26 years to life in the state prison. The court also ordered Lugo to pay $10,000 in direct victim restitution to Davis’s family under Penal Code section 1202.4, subdivision (f).2 Lugo appealed and another panel of this court affirmed the conviction but reversed