People v. Brown CA4/3

Filed 1/23/23 P. v. Brown CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G060325

v. (Super. Ct. No. 06WF1152)

CHRISTOPHER JASON BROWN SR., OPI NION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Terri Flynn- Peister, Judge. Affirmed. Request for judicial notice. Denied. Christine Vento, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Steve Oetting, Acting Assistant Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina and Stephanie A. Mitchell, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On April 29, 2006, defendant Christopher Jason Brown, Sr., shot his wife with a shotgun while she was a passenger in her father’s car. Defendant’s wife was struck by shotgun pellets and injured; defendant’s father-in-law was also in the line of fire but was evidently unharmed. In 2007, pursuant to a plea agreement with the district attorney, defendant pleaded guilty to attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle. Defendant also admitted he intentionally discharged a firearm during the attempted murder and personally used a firearm during the assault, both of which are enhancements. Defendant’s plea agreement was a “negotiated plea,” whereby the district attorney and defendant agreed to a particular sentence, rather than an “open plea,” whereby the actual sentence is left to the trial court’s discretion. Specifically, defendant agreed to the following sentence: life with the possibility of parole on the attempted murder count, plus 20 years for the firearm enhancement, the middle term of three years on the assault with a firearm count, plus three additional years for the firearm enhancement, and the low term of three years on the shooting at an occupied motor 1 vehicle count, which was stayed pursuant to Penal Code section 654. Thus, defendant’s total sentence was life with the possibility of parole plus 26 years. In 2021, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.91, which permits resentencing of any “person currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction, whether by trial or plea, who is, or was, a member of the United States military and who may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post- traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of his or her military service” (id., subd. (b)(1)), so long as the defendant’s service-related issues were not considered as a factor in mitigation at the time of sentencing and the defendant