People v. Badillo

• Decision Date: 13 December 2022
• Docket Number: C096004
• Parties: THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOE BADILLO, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOE BADILLO, Defendant and Appellant.

C096004

California Court of Appeals, Third District, San Joaquin

December 13, 2022

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Super Ct. No. STKCRFECOD20150007401

HULL J.

Appointed counsel for defendant, Joe Badillo, has asked this court to review the record pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 for arguable issues in his appeal from the denial of his motions for the trial court to reconsider its decision not to recall defendant's sentence and for affirmative recall of his sentence under former Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d) (§ 1170(d)). (Statutory section citations that follow are found in the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.) For the reasons set forth herein we dismiss the appeal.

Facts and History of the Proceedings

We provide the following brief description of the facts and procedural history of the case. (See People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, 110, 123-124.)

The People's August 27, 2015, indictment charged defendant with five counts of second degree robbery (§ 211; counts one-five) and alleged that defendant had personally used a firearm in the commission of those offenses (§ 12202.53 subd. (b)).

On December 14, 2015, defendant resolved this case by pleading guilty to counts one and two and admitting the personal firearm use enhancement associated with count one. In exchange, defendant was to receive a sentence of 13 years in prison comprised of the low term for count one, plus 10 years for the firearm enhancement, plus one-third the midterm for count two consecutive. Counts three and four would be dismissed with a waiver pursuant to People v. Harvey (1979) 25 Cal.3d 754. Count five would be dismissed and the remaining firearm enhancement allegations would be stricken. Defendant was sentenced the same day in accordance with his plea agreement. Defendant did not appeal this sentence, which became final in 2016 when the time to seek certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States passed. (See People v Lizarraga (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 201, 206 ["A 'judgment is not final until the time for petitioning for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court has passed' "].)

On April 9, 2021, the trial court received a section 1170(d) letter from the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recommending the trial court recall defendant's sentence and resentence him in light of legislative changes providing the trial court discretion to strike defendant's firearm enhancement. (See §§ 1385, 12022.53, subd. (h).)

On August 24, 2021, the trial court issued a written order refusing to recall defendant's sentence. This order highlighted that defendant's sentence was the result of a negotiated disposition wherein defendant had received the benefit of dismissal of additional robbery charges and gun enhancements. Further, after consideration of its file, supplemental materials, and the record, the court found "no reason to recall or resentence defendant." Defendant did not appeal this decision.

Thereafter, on November 23, 2021, defendant filed a motion for the trial court to reconsider its refusal to recall his sentence (citing Code Civ. Proc., § 1008 and the court's inherent authority). This motion argued two cases decided since the trial court's denial supported the Secretary's resentencing recommendation, as they made clear the trial court was empowered to apply ameliorative amendments in a section 1170(d) context (People v. Cepeda (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 456) and that the trial court was not prevented from resentencing by virtue of defendant's resolution of the case by plea bargain (People v. Pillsbury (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 776).

On December 27, 2021, defendant filed a separate section 1170(d) motion reiterating his request that the trial court recall his sentence and strike the firearm enhancement. This motion highlighted the passage of Assembly Bill No. 1540 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.), which as of January 1, 2022, moved the provisions of section 1170(d) to newly created section 1170.03. (Stats. 2021, ch. 719, §§ 3.1, 6.) This legislation also established a presumption in favor of recalling a defendant's sentence where the Secretary so recommends. (§ 1170.03, subd. (b)(2); see also People v. McMurray (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 1035, 1038.) The People opposed defendant's motions arguing on the merits that defendant posed an unreasonable risk of danger to the public such that even under the amended law his sentence should not be recalled (§ 1170.03, subd. (b)(2)).

On March 30, 2022, the trial court held a hearing concerning defendant's motions. After listening to defendant's family and following arguments from the parties, the court denied defendant's motions without addressing the court's jurisdiction to recall the sentence at that procedural juncture. Rather, the court found that even considering the newly created presumption in favor of recall, defendant's commission of five armed robberies in a week's time, as well as other aggravating factors, established he was still an unreasonable risk to public safety. Defendant timely appealed this postjudgment order.

The Legislature passed Assembly Bill No. 200 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) renumbering section 1170.03 as section 1172.1, effective June 30, 2022, but made no further substantive changes. (See Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 9.)

Discussion

We appointed counsel to represent defendant on appeal. Counsel filed an opening brief that sets forth the facts and procedural history of the case and requests that this court review the record and determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (People v. Wende, supra 25 Cal.3d 436.) Defendant was advised by counsel of the right to file a supplemental brief within 30 days from the date the opening brief was filed, but he has not done so. We conclude we must dismiss this appeal.

Appealability

First it is not clear that defendant has appealed from an appealable order. As this court explained in People v. Chamizo (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 696:" 'A defendant may appeal from a final judgment of conviction or from any order after judgment which affects his or her substantial rights. ([ ]§ 1237.) "[J]udgment is synonymous with the imposition of sentence [citation] . . . ." (People v. Perez (1979) 23 Cal.3d 545, 549, fn. 2.)' (People v. Chlad (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1719, 1725.)" (Chamizo, at pp. 699-700.)

"Under the general common law rule, a trial court is deprived of jurisdiction to resentence a criminal defendant once execution of the sentence has commenced." (People v. Karaman (1992) 4 Cal.4th 335, 344.) Thus, once judgment is rendered, except for limited statutory exceptions (e.g., §§ 1170.126, 1170.18), the sentencing court is without jurisdiction to vacate or modify the sentence except pursuant to the provisions of former section 1170(d) (now section 1172.1(a)(1)). (See, e.g., Portillo v. Superior Court (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1829, 1834-1836.)

Section 1172.1, subdivision (a)(1) currently provides: "When a defendant, upon conviction for a felony offense, has been committed to the custody of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or to the custody of the county correctional administrator pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, the court may, within 120 days of the date of commitment on its own motion, at any time upon the recommendation of the secretary . . ., recall the sentence and commitment previously ordered and resentence the defendant in the same manner as if they had not previously been sentenced, whether or not the defendant is still in custody, and provided the new sentence, if any, is no greater than the initial sentence." This language mirrors section 1170.03, subdivision (a)(1), which was in effect when the trial court ruled on defendant's motions.

Thus, under current section 1172.1, subdivision (a)(1), a sentencing court may, on its own motion, recall and resentence a defendant subject to the express limitation that the court must act to recall the sentence within 120 days after committing the defendant to prison. (§ 1172.1, subd. (a)(1); see also Dix v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 442, 456 [analyzing former § 1170(d)].) The trial court further maintains jurisdiction to act upon recommendations of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (as well as other identified parties) to recall and resentence a defendant, provided the new sentence is not longer than the original. (§ 1172.1, subd. (a)(1).)

Here, defendant was sentenced to prison on December 14, 2015. On August 24, 2021, the trial court refused to exercise its discretion to recall defendant's sentence in response to the Secretary's recommendation made pursuant to former section 1170(d). Defendant did not appeal this decision, which would have been an appealable order. (People v. Mendez (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 347, 353.)

Some three months later, defendant filed a motion asking the trial court to reconsider its refusal to exercise its former section 1170(d) discretion. The next month, defendant separately motioned the court under former section 1170(d) to recall his sentence and strike the firearm enhancement, highlighting the passage of Assembly Bill No. 1540 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.).

It is unclear whether denial of these motions should be tied to the trial court's jurisdiction to hear recall requests from the Secretary or whether the court was without jurisdiction because the court had lost its own-motion jurisdiction. (Cf. People v. Loper (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1155, 1165-1166 [trial court's jurisdiction to entertain defendant's motion to recall under former § 1170(d) ended 120 days after the date of commitment]; People v. Chlad (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1719, 1724-1725 [same].)

If we...