People v. Garcia

Filed 2/10/16; pub. order 3/8/16 (see end of opn.)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H042396 (Monterey County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. SS120938B)

v.

RAFAELA GARCIA,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Rafaela Garcia brought this appeal to challenge an order denying her petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.18 (section 1170.18). She contends that the court failed to appreciate that she was eligible to have her conviction of possession of methamphetamine reduced to a misdemeanor, pursuant to Proposition 47. The People concede the error, and we agree that the court erred in refusing to consider defendant’s petition. Background Defendant was charged by complaint with felony possession of methamphetamine on May 17, 2012, a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a). On June 21, 2013, she appeared for sentencing.1 The court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on felony probation for three years, conditioned on service of 60 days in jail and other terms.

1 The circumstances of defendant’s conviction are not in the record on appeal.

On March 9, 2015, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.18, subdivision (a), asserting her eligibility for reduction of her conviction to a misdemeanor. The district attorney opposed the petition, asserting defendant’s ineligibility for treatment under the statute because she “has not been sentenced.” After hearing argument on the matter, the trial court decided to “stay with the traditional legal definition of ‘sentenced’ ” and denied the petition. This timely appealed followed. Discussion Section 1170.18 is derived from Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, passed by voter initiative at the November 4, 2014 election. Subdivision (a) of the statute provides: “A person currently serving a sentence for a conviction, whether by trial or plea, of a felony or felonies who would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under the act that added this section (“this act”) had this act been in effect at the time of the offense may petition for a recall of sentence before the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction in his or her case to request resentencing in accordance with Sections 11350, 11357, or 11377 of the Health and Safety Code . . . as those sections have been amended or added by this act.” If the petitioner meets the criteria in subdivision (a) of the statute, the felony sentence “shall be recalled and the petitioner resentenced to a misdemeanor” pursuant to the statutes under which he or she was convicted, as those sections were amended or added by the Act, “unless the court, in its discretion, determines that resentencing the petitioner would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.” (§ 1170.18, subd. (b)); cf. T.W. v. Superior Court (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 646, 650; People v. Rivera (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 1085, 1092-1093.) The parties agree that in passing Proposition 47 the voters intended to embrace probationers within the reach of the resentencing provisions of section 1170.18. To interpret the statutory language otherwise would, in their view, lead to absurd consequences. We find merit in this position. As the People acknowledge, there is nothing in either the ballot materials or the statutory language that appears to limit the