People v. Manuel CA2/7

Filed 9/13/23 P. v. Manuel CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115 .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 SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, B321653

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA089925) v.

LARRY BERT MANUEL,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, William L. Sadler, Judge. Affirmed. Andrea S. Bitar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Herbert S. Tetef, and Kristen J. Inberg, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION

In 2016 Larry Bert Manuel pleaded no contest to one count of robbery and three counts of attempted robbery. After striking seven of eight prior convictions for serious or violent felonies, the court sentenced Manuel to an aggregate prison term of 19 years, which included the upper term of five years on the robbery conviction and a five-year enhancement for a prior serious felony conviction. Effective January 1, 2022, the Legislature amended Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (b),1 to require the trial court to impose a sentence that does not exceed the middle term unless the defendant stipulates to the facts supporting circumstances in aggravation or a jury (or a judge in a court trial) finds those facts true beyond a reasonable doubt. The amended statute, however, allows the court to consider the defendant’s prior convictions based on a certified record of conviction without submitting those prior convictions to a jury. In June 2022 following a request from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that the court dismiss the five-year, serious-felony enhancement, the court resentenced Manuel. After striking the five-year enhancement, the court again imposed the upper term on Manuel’s robbery conviction, relying on Manuel’s admission in 2016 he had eight prior felony convictions. Manuel argues that, because the People did not provide the trial court with certified copies of his prior felony convictions, the