People v. Morales CA2/1

Filed 3/23/16 P. v. Morales CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B265651

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA106793) v.

NICHOLAS MORALES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Olivia Rosales, Judge. Reversed and remanded. ______

California Appellate Project, Jonathan B. Steiner, Executive Director, and Richard B. Lennon, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Mary Sanchez and Michael C. Keller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ______

Appellant Nicholas Morales appeals from the trial court’s denial of his petition for recall of his sentence and resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.18, 1 on his convictions of one count of grand theft person and one count of petty theft, which was sentenced as a felony. Appellant argues, the Attorney General concedes, and we agree that the trial court erred in concluding that appellant’s theft convictions were ineligible for resentencing as misdemeanors under Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for reconsideration of appellant’s petition. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2009, a jury convicted appellant of one count of attempted robbery (§§ 664, 211), four counts of impersonating a police officer (§ 146a, subd. (b)), one count of grand theft person (§ 487, subd. (c)), and two counts of petty theft (§ 484). The court imposed a sentence of 35 years to life on the attempted robbery count, concurrent two-year terms on the impersonation counts, a two-year concurrent sentence on one2 of the petty theft counts (sentenced as a felony), and a concurrent two-year term on the grand theft person count. In June 2015, appellant filed a petition for resentencing on the theft convictions (§§ 487, subd. (c), 484) under section 1170.18. The trial court denied the motion, concluding the charges were not eligible for relief. Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal. DISCUSSION Proposition 47, codified in section 1170.18, reduced the penalties for a number of offenses. Among those crimes reduced to misdemeanors are theft offenses, including those charged in this case, petty theft and grand theft person, which are now defined in section 490.2: Notwithstanding section 487 or any other provision of law defining grand theft, obtaining any property by theft “where the value of the money, labor, real or