People v. Lozano

Filed 11/9/17 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B278663

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA023984) v.

ELIZABETH LOZANO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Richard R. Romero, Judge. Dismissed. Post-Conviction Justice Project, University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, Heidi L. Rummel, Michael J. Brennan, Anna Faircloth Feingold, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Shawn McGahey Webb, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Michael Katz, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Prior to a recent amendment to Penal Code section 3051,1 juvenile homicide offenders who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP), such as defendant and appellant Elizabeth Lozano, would die in prison without the opportunity for a parole suitability hearing. On October 11, 2017, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill No. 394 (SB 394), which amends section 3051 to expressly provide a youth offender parole hearing to Lozano and others similarly situated, meaning Lozano will receive a parole suitability hearing after 25 years of incarceration. With the amendment to section 3051, Lozano’s argument that her LWOP sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment is moot. The appeal is dismissed.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Lozano was sentenced to LWOP in 1996 following her conviction of first degree murder with a robbery-murder special circumstance. (§§ 187, 190.2, subd. (a)(17).)2 She was 16 years old at the time of the commitment offense. In 1997, this court affirmed the judgment as modified, leaving