People v. von Renegar CA3

Filed 6/29/16 P. v. von Renegar CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Butte) ----

THE PEOPLE, C079424

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CM072179, CM080730) v.

ERIC VON RENEGAR,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Eric von Renegar appeals from the trial court’s denial of his applications for redesignation of two prior felony convictions for receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496)1 as misdemeanors pursuant to section 1170.18. He contends the trial court erred in determining that his prior conviction for robbery rendered him ineligible for section 1170.18 relief because robbery was subject to a life sentence at the time of defendant’s conviction for that offense. While we agree that defendant’s prior

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

robbery conviction is not grounds for denying a section 1170.18 petition, we also find that the applications should have been denied because defendant failed to carry his burden of establishing eligibility for relief. We shall therefore affirm the trial court’s orders. I. BACKGROUND In 1972, defendant was convicted of first degree robbery and was sentenced to state prison, being paroled in 1975. On or around May 20, 1980, in case number CM072179, defendant received property he knew was stolen, consisting of a travel trailer, chain saw, and various household goods. A jury convicted defendant of receiving stolen property and sustained a prior prison term allegation. Defendant was sentenced to three years in state prison. On February 12, 1983, in case number CM080730, defendant was found in possession of a stolen log splitter. The victim of the theft received a $1,300 or $1,400 insurance payment for the stolen log splitter. Defendant pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to a two-year prison term. In February 2015, defendant filed separate applications to have the convictions in case numbers CM072179 and CM080730 designated as misdemeanors pursuant to section 1170.18, subdivision (f). The trial court denied the applications, finding that because defendant’s prior robbery conviction was subject to a life term when he was convicted for the offense in 1972, the offense was a “super strike,” which rendered him ineligible for section 1170.18 relief. II. DISCUSSION A. The 1972 Robbery Conviction Defendant contends the trial court’s reason for denying his applications was erroneous, because his prior robbery conviction is not a super strike that would disqualify him from resentencing.