People v. Palaghiuc CA3

Filed 1/6/26 P. v. Palaghiuc CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C102049 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 01F00623) v.

SORIN PALAGHIUC,

Defendant and Appellant.

In 2003, defendant Sorin Palaghiuc was convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) plus 11 years 8 months for other convictions and enhancements. He was 20 years old at the time of the murder. Defendant appeals the trial court’s July 2024 written order vacating its prior order appointing counsel and scheduling a Franklin1 hearing to preserve mitigating evidence for use in a future youthful offender parole hearing. Defendant asks this court to remand the matter so he may present additional argument to the trial court. The People do not oppose giving defendant an opportunity to establish his eligibility for a Franklin hearing. We accept the People’s concession and will reverse and remand the matter.

1 People v. Franklin (2016) 63 Cal.4th 261 (Franklin).

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2003, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187)2 and found true that defendant had committed the murder while engaged in robbery and burglary (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) and personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). (People v. Palaghiuc (Dec. 6, 2004, C043780) [nonpub. opn.].) The jury also found defendant guilty of additional counts of robbery (§ 211), burglary (§ 459), and grand theft (§ 487). The trial court sentenced defendant to LWOP on the murder count plus 11 years 8 months consecutive for the other convictions and enhancements. This court affirmed the judgment on appeal. (People v. Palaghiuc, supra, C043780.) As of January 1, 2020, defendants who committed crimes when they were 25 years old or younger are generally eligible for a youth offender parole hearing after specified periods, depending on their sentence. (§ 3051.) However, the statute excludes those defendants who, like defendant here, were sentenced to LWOP for crimes they committed when they were 18 to 25 years old. (§ 3051, subd. (b)(4).) In 2023, defendant filed an in propria persona motion for appointment of counsel and requested a proceeding to preserve mitigating evidence for use in a future youthful offender parole hearing pursuant to Franklin, In re Cook (2019) 7 Cal.5th 439, and section 1203.01. Defendant argued that, by excluding 18- to 25-year-olds sentenced to LWOP from youth offender parole, section 3051 violates equal protection and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The trial court granted the motion, appointed counsel, and scheduled a hearing. Before the scheduled date, our Supreme Court decided People v. Hardin (2024) 15 Cal.5th 834 (Hardin). Hardin rejected an equal protection challenge to section 3051