People v. Chacon CA4/3

Filed 3/4/25 P. v. Chacon 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G065214

v. (Super. Ct. No. 05CF2563)

GABRIEL CHACON, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Terri K. Flynn-Peister, Judge. Affirmed. Robert L. Hernandez, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Arlene A. Sevidal, Assistant Attorney General,

Christopher P. Beesley, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * * Defendant Gabriel Chacon is serving a prison sentence of 40 years to life for a murder committed when he was 17 years old. Chacon sought resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d)(1)(A).1 We affirm the trial court’s denial of Chacon’s resentencing petition because he is not serving the functional equivalent of a sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The trial court properly considered (1) Chacon’s sentence, age, life expectancy, and parole date, and (2) his entitlement to a youth offender parole hearing under section 3051. We therefore affirm the trial court’s postjudgment order. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In August 2005, Chacon, who was 17 years old at the time, murdered Levaai Tauanuu by shooting him six times in the back and the face. Chacon fled the scene, abandoned his gun in a dumpster, and left the United States for Mexico. A jury convicted Chacon of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and found true sentencing enhancements that Chacon personally used a firearm and intentionally and personally discharged a firearm causing the victim’s death (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.53, subd. (d)). The trial court sentenced Chacon to a prison term of 40 years to life—15 years to life for murder, plus 25 years to life (consecutive) for causing great bodily injury with a firearm. In January 2025, Chacon filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170, subdivision (d)(1). The trial court denied the petition: