People v. Beckwith CA2/1

Filed 11/13/15 P. v. Beckwith CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, B261626

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. MA052644) v.

GERALD DELANE BECKWITH,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Christopher Estes, Judge. Reversed. Adrian K. Panton, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Mary Sanchez, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ——————————

A jury convicted Gerald Delane Beckwith of first degree residential burglary, a felony, in violation of Penal Code section 4591 (count 1) and petty theft with three priors, also a felony, in violation of section 666, subdivision (a) (count 2). In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found true the allegations that Beckwith had suffered two prior strike convictions as to both counts, and had served seven prior prison terms. The court sentenced Beckwith to 37 years to life for first degree residential burglary, and stayed his sentence for petty theft under section 654. Beckwith appealed and we affirmed. (People v. Beckwith (Mar. 25, 2013, B242147) [nonpub. opn.].) Subsequently, on November 24, 2014, the trial court received Beckwith’s petition for recall and resentencing on his petty theft conviction under Proposition 47 (§ 1170.18, subd. (a)). The court denied the petition on December 18, 2014, stating that Beckwith was ineligible for resentencing as he was serving a life sentence for first degree burglary, and his sentence for petty theft had been stayed. Beckwith filed this timely appeal. Beckwith argues, and respondent agrees, that he is eligible to have his section 666, subdivision (a) petty theft conviction reduced to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47, despite his life sentence for burglary and his stayed sentence for petty theft. Proposition 47, enacted by the voters in November 2014, added section 1170.18, which provides: “A person currently serving a sentence for a conviction . . . of a felony . . . who would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under the act . . . had this act been in effect at the time of the offense may petition for a recall of sentence . . . to request resentencing in accordance with . . . section . . . 666 of the Penal Code, as th[at] section[] ha[s] been amended or added by this act.” (§ 1170.18, subd. (a); see People v. Rivera (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 1085, 1089, 1092.) As amended by Proposition 47, section 666, subdivision (a) now provides that any person with a prior violent or serious felony conviction “who, having been convicted of . . . burglary, and having served a term of imprisonment therefor in any penal institution . . . and who is subsequently convicted of petty theft, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison.”