People v. Vasquez CA2/5

California Court of Appeal May 13, 2022 No. B300872AUnpublished

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Holding. The court held that the trial court erred by summarily denying the defendant's petition for resentencing without appointing counsel, as the defendant is entitled to counsel under Penal Code section 1170.95 following the amendments by Senate Bill 775.

Issues

Whether the trial court erred in summarily denying a petition for resentencing without appointing counsel for a defendant convicted of attempted murder.
Whether the failure to appoint counsel was harmless error under the standard set forth in People v. Lewis.

Disposition. Reversed and remanded.

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“We agree with the parties that the trial court erred by failing to appoint counsel.”

“We cannot say that the trial court’s error was harmless under Lewis.”

“Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Vasquez’s section 1170.95 petition, and remand the cause for the trial court to appoint counsel and conduct further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Filed 5/13/22 P. v. Vasquez CA2/5 Opinion following transfer from Supreme Court NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B300872

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA041420) v.

STEVEN A. VASQUEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Teri Schwartz, Judge. Reversed and remanded. Janet Uson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Daniel C. Chang, Nancy Lii Ladner, Idan Ivri, and Allison H. Chung, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

__________________________

Defendant and appellant Steven A. Vasquez appealed from the denial of his petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.951 and Senate Bill No. 1437 (Senate Bill 1437). We affirmed the trial court’s order summarily denying Vasquez’s petition without appointment of counsel on the basis that section 1170.95 did not provide relief for Vasquez because he was convicted of attempted murder. The Supreme Court granted Vasquez’s petition for review, and on February 16, 2022, it transferred the matter back to this court with directions to vacate our decision and reconsider the cause in light of Senate Bill No. 775 (Stats. 2021, ch. 551) and People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952 (Lewis).2 (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.528(d).) We ordered our prior opinion vacated on March 1, 2022, and now issue this opinion.

People v. Vasquez CA2/5

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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B300872

STEVEN A. VASQUEZ,

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DISPOSITION

MOOR, J.

RUBIN, P. J.

BAKER, J.

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