People v. Velez CA2/8

Filed 9/17/15 P. v. Velez CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B262296

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA072076) v.

RICARDO TORRES VELEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. William C. Ryan, Judge. Affirmed.

Richard B. Lennon, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_______________________________

This case involves an inmate’s petition for recall of his sentence under Penal Code section 1170.126. (All statutory references are to the Penal Code.) In 2005, a jury convicted defendant Ricardo Torres Velez of two counts of first degree burglary, one count of second degree burglary, grand theft of an automobile, and petty theft with a prior. The court found defendant had suffered two prior serious or violent felony convictions. The court sentenced defendant to a total of 100 years to life: four consecutive terms of 25 years to life under the “Three Strikes” law. This court affirmed the judgment of conviction in an unpublished opinion, rejecting defendant’s contention that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his motion to strike one of his prior serious or violent felony convictions.1 (People v. Velez (Aug. 31, 2006, B188376) [nonpub. opn.].) In November 2012, the voters approved Proposition 36, the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (the Act). The Act amended the Three Strikes law so that an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in prison is applied only “where the current crime is a serious or violent felony or the prosecution has pled and proved an enumerated disqualifying factor”; otherwise, the recidivist is to be sentenced as a second strike offender. (People v. Yearwood (2013) 213 Cal.App.4th 161, 167-168, citing §§ 667, 1170.12.) In addition, an inmate serving an indeterminate life sentence imposed under the Three Strikes law for a crime that is not a serious or violent felony, and who is not disqualified, may petition for recall of his or her sentence, and is eligible for resentencing as a second strike offender unless the court determines that resentencing would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. (§ 1170.126.)