People v. Hall CA4/1

Filed 1/13/22 P. v. Hall CA4/1 Opinion following transfer from Supreme Court

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D078174

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. FWV1202970)

MICHAEL ANDRE HALL,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court San Bernardino County, Shahla S. Sabet, Judge. (Retired Judge of San Bernardino Sup. Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Reversed and remanded with directions. Gary V. Crooks, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Pulos, Seth Friedman, and Kathryn Kirschbaum, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

In 2013, Michael Andre Hall and a co-defendant were charged with

three counts of murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)) and multiple other felonies. Hall entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter (§ 192, subd. (a)) as a lesser offense of murder and one count of robbery (§ 211). Hall also admitted the crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The court sentenced Hall to a determinate term of 12 years in prison. In 2019, Hall filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.95. The trial court denied the petition on the grounds section 1170.95 did not apply to persons who pleaded guilty to manslaughter as lesser offenses of murder. Hall appealed, and this court affirmed the denial of Hall’s resentencing petition in an unpublished opinion. (People v. Hall, D078174 (Aug. 18, 2021).) Hall petitioned for review. The Supreme Court granted review and remanded the case to this court to reconsider our opinion in light of newly enacted Senate Bill No. 775 (Stats. 2021, ch. 551) (Senate Bill 775), which became effective January 1, 2022. We requested and received supplemental briefing from the parties on the impact of Senate Bill 775 on this appeal. Both Hall and the Attorney General contend the order must be reversed and the case remanded to the trial court with directions to issue an order to show cause and to conduct an evidentiary hearing as required by section 1170.95. We agree. The statutory changes that occurred while this case was pending require reversal. As such, we will reverse the order and remand the matter back to the superior court with directions.