People v. Zamora CA2/3

Filed 2/26/21 P. v. Zamora CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B302053

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. YA092302 v.

BYRON ZAMORA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Hector M. Guzman, Judge. Affirmed.

Rachel Lederman, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Rene Judkiewicz, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

In November 2018, we affirmed Byron Zamora’s conviction of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting great bodily injury. Zamora stabbed a developmentally disabled 51-year-old man held down by one or both of Zamora’s companions, after the victim bought them beer following a dispute over a dog. Zamora admitted a prior felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter, and the trial court sentenced him to 16 years in prison including what was then a mandatory five-year enhancement for the prior serious felony conviction. (People v. Castaneda (Nov. 8, 2018, B278764) [nonpub. opn.].) In February 2019, our Supreme Court transferred Zamora’s case back to us with directions to vacate our decision in light of Senate Bill No. 1393 (SB 1393). We remanded for a new sentencing hearing and directed the trial court to exercise its discretion under SB 1393. (People v. Castaneda (May 9, 2019, B278764) [nonpub. opn.].) The trial court declined to strike the enhancement and imposed the same sentence. Zamora filed this second timely appeal. DISCUSSION Effective January 1, 2019, during the pendency of Zamora’s appeal, SB 1393 amended Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a)(1) to give the trial court discretion to strike or dismiss the five-year serious felony enhancement. SB 1393 applies retroactively to cases not yet final when it went into effect. (People v. Zamora (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 200, 208.) On remand, the trial court held a resentencing hearing on October 17, 2019. Zamora’s counsel requested a continuance to allow his family to testify “as to the good things that are going on with him. He’s been taking numerous programs.” The prosecutor pointed out this would be the third continuance,