People v. Singer CA1/2

Filed 2/6/24 P. v. Singer CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A167198 v. KENNETH GENE SINGER, III, (Lake County Super. Ct. No. CR2656) Defendant and Appellant.

In 1989, a jury found defendant Kenneth Gene Singer, III, guilty of first degree murder and second degree robbery and found he personally used a firearm in the commission of the offenses. Singer, who was 21 years old when he committed the offenses, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2022, Singer filed a petition for recall and resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d) (§ 1170(d)). The trial court denied the petition on the ground the recall and resentencing procedure is available only to defendants who were under 18 years old when they committed the life offense, but Singer was 21 years old when he committed his offense. On appeal, Singer contends he is eligible for recall and resentencing because section 1170(d)(8)(B) provides that youth is a factor to be considered in resentencing and a “youth” is any person who was under 26 years old when

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the offense was committed. We reject Singer’s reading of section 1170(d) and therefore affirm the trial court’s order denying his petition. DISCUSSION We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. (MacIsaac v. Waste Management Collection & Recycling, Inc. (2005) 134 Cal.App.4th 1076, 1081–1082.) Our task is to determine the Legislature’s intent, and we first “look to the words of the statute themselves.” (Id. at p. 1082.) “If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, our task is at an end, for there is no need for judicial construction.” (Id. at p. 1083.) Accordingly, we begin with the language of section 1170(d). Subparagraph (d)(1) identifies who is eligible to file a petition for recall and resentencing. It specifies that “a defendant who was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole has been incarcerated for at least 15 years . . . may submit to the sentencing court a petition for recall and resentencing,” so long as the defendant did not torture the victim and the victim was not a public safety official. (§ 1170(d)(1)(A) and (B), italics added.) Subparagraph (d)(2) sets forth the requirements for a petition. “The petition shall include the defendant’s statement that the defendant was under 18 years of age at the time of the crime and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the defendant’s statement describing their remorse and work towards rehabilitation, and the defendant’s statement that one of [four specified circumstances] is true.” (§ 1170(d)(2), italics added.)1