People v. Mendez

• Decision Date: 24 September 2021
• Docket Number: B306301
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jose Alex MENDEZ, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

69 Cal.App.5th 347

284 Cal.Rptr.3d 447

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.Jose Alex MENDEZ, Defendant and Appellant.

B306301

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 2, California.

Filed September 24, 2021

Tanya Dellaca, Universal City, 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, Noah P. Hill and Michael R. Johnsen, Supervising Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

LUI, P. J.

Jose Alex Mendez appeals the denial of a recommendation by the secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to recall his sentence under Penal Code ¹ section 1170, subdivision (d)(1). Appellant contends the trial court abused its discretion by failing to adequately weigh his postconviction record and affording him no opportunity to be heard regarding the recommendation by the CDCR to recall his sentence.

The California Code of Regulations requires the secretary to provide a copy of the recommendation letter and Cumulative Case Summary to the inmate ( Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3076.1, subd. (e)(2) ), and in this case, the secretary also provided copies of the abstract of judgment and minute orders, along with the recommendation letter and Cumulative Case Summary to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. There is no indication in the record, however, that the trial court gave the parties notice or an opportunity to present additional information relevant to the court's decision. In view of the substantial liberty interest at stake when the secretary issues a recommendation to recall an inmate's sentence, we reverse and remand the matter to the trial court to give notice to the parties, to allow the parties the opportunity to supplement the CDCR's recommendation with additional relevant information, and to enable the trial court to exercise its discretion whether to recall appellant's sentence in light of such information as well as any briefing the parties might choose to submit.

PROCEDURAL² BACKGROUND

Appellant was convicted by a jury in November 2008 of 12 counts of second degree robbery ( § 211 ) and one count of attempted second degree robbery (§§ 664/211), with personal weapon use enhancement findings as to 12 of the 13 counts ( § 12022.53, subd. (b) ). The trial court sentenced appellant to 13 years 8 months on the 13 counts of conviction plus 46 years 8 months on the weapon enhancements, for a total term of 60 years 4 months in prison. This court rejected appellant's claim on appeal that the sentence was excessive and affirmed the judgment in People v. Mendez (Jul. 21, 2010, B214453, 2010 WL 2842279 [nonpub. opn.]).

By letter to the Los Angeles County Superior Court dated August 14, 2019, the secretary of the CDCR recommended a recall of appellant's sentence and resentencing in accordance with section 1170, subdivision (d). The letter was marked "received" in Department 30 on August 27, "received" in Department L on October 1, 2019, and filed in the superior court on October 15, 2019.

In the letter, the secretary noted that appellant's sentence included numerous weapon enhancements under section 12022.53, subdivision (b), which were mandatory at the time of appellant's sentencing. However, pursuant to the amendment to section 12022.53, subdivision (h), effective January 1, 2018, "courts are now empowered with discretion to strike or dismiss a personal use firearm enhancement at sentencing or resentencing pursuant to PC Section 1170, subdivision (d), in the interest of justice pursuant to PC Section 1385." Enclosed with the letter were the abstract of judgment, minute orders, the charging documents, and a cumulative case summary. Based on the secretary's review of those documents, the secretary "recommend[ed] the inmate's sentence be recalled and that he be resentenced."

In a written order dated October 16, 2019, the trial court rejected the secretary's request for recall and resentencing. The court stated it had reviewed the court file, the documents enclosed with the letter, and the reasons for the secretary's recommendation, including appellant's record of good conduct while in prison. The court then summarized appellant's criminal history³ and his current offenses. The trial court concluded that "[b]ased on the facts of the commitment offenses plus his prior arrest history the defendant is clearly a danger to the community. The request pursuant to PC 1170(d) therefore is denied."

DISCUSSION

A. Governing Law and the Standard of Review

Section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) was enacted in 1976 as part of California's Determinate Sentencing Act, which marked the state's transition from an indeterminate to a determinate sentencing system. ( People v. McCallum (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 202, 210, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336 ( McCallum ); Dix v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 442, 455, 279 Cal.Rptr. 834, 807 P.2d 1063 ( Dix ).) The subdivision operates as "an exception to the common law rule that the court loses resentencing jurisdiction once execution of sentence has begun" ( Dix , at p. 455, 279 Cal.Rptr. 834, 807 P.2d 1063 ) by authorizing a court to recall the defendant's sentence "within 120 days of the date of commitment on its own motion, or at any time upon the recommendation of the secretary of the Board of Parole Hearings in the case of state prison inmates, the county correctional administrator in the case of county jail inmates, or the district attorney of the county in which the defendant was sentenced." ( § 1170, subd. (d)(1) ; People v. Frazier (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 858, 863, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 806 ( Frazier ); McCallum , at p. 210, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.)

"In deciding whether to recall a sentence under section 1170, subdivision (d)(1), the trial court may exercise its authority ‘for any reason rationally related to lawful sentencing.’ ( Dix , supra , 53 Cal.3d at p. 456, 279 Cal.Rptr. 834, 807 P.2d 1063.)" ( McCallum , supra , 55 Cal.App.5th at p. 210, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.) After recalling the sentence, the court may "resentence the defendant in the same manner as if they had not previously been sentenced, provided the new sentence, if any, is no greater than the initial sentence." ( § 1170, subd. (d)(1).) The court must also "apply the sentencing rules of the Judicial Council so as to eliminate disparity of sentences and to promote uniformity of sentencing" and grant credit for time served. ( § 1170, subd. (d)(1).)

The Legislature has amended section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) numerous times. In particular, the 2018 amendments permit courts to modify judgments and consider postconviction factors, by adding the following language: "The court resentencing under this paragraph may reduce a defendant's term of imprisonment and modify the judgment, including a judgment entered after a plea agreement, if it is in the interest of justice. The court may consider postconviction factors, including, but not limited to, the inmate's disciplinary record and record of rehabilitation while incarcerated, evidence that reflects whether age, time served, and diminished physical condition, if any, have reduced the inmate's risk for future violence, and evidence that reflects that circumstances have changed since the inmate's original sentencing so that the inmate's continued incarceration is no longer in the interest of justice." (Stats. 2018, ch. 36, § 17 ; McCallum , supra , 55 Cal.App.5th at p. 210, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.)

The denial of a CDCR recommendation to recall a sentence is appealable. ( § 1237, subd. (b) [appeal lies from "any order made after judgment, affecting the substantial rights of the party"]; see People v. Loper (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1155, 1158, 1163, 184 Cal.Rptr.3d 715, 343 P.3d 895 ; McCallum , supra , 55 Cal.App.5th at pp. 210, 211, fn. 7, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.) We review the trial court's decision not to recall an inmate's sentence for abuse of discretion and will not disturb the ruling absent a showing that " ‘ " ‘the trial court exercised its discretion in an arbitrary, capricious, or patently absurd manner that resulted in a manifest miscarriage of justice.’ " ’ " ( People v. Miracle (2018) 6 Cal.5th 318, 346–347, 240 Cal.Rptr.3d 381, 430 P.3d 847 ; McCallum , at p. 211, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.)

B. Due Process Requires that the Sentencing Court Give the Parties Notice of the CDCR's Recommendation for Recall and Resentencing and an Opportunity to Submit Briefing and Additional Information Relevant to the Recommendation Before Ruling on the Sentence Recall Request

The regulations enacted to implement section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) ’s recall and resentencing authorization require that the recommendation letter and Cumulative Case Summary "be forwarded to the sentencing court and a copy shall be provided to the inmate." ( Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3076.1, subd. (e)(2).) But section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) itself contains no guidance to the trial court on providing notice of the CDCR's recommendation to the parties, and the statute is silent with regard to the parties’ rights to be heard on the merits of the recommendation. ( People v. Williams (2021) 65 Cal.App.5th 828, 833, 280 Cal.Rptr.3d 241 ( Williams ).)

Several courts have considered what, if any, due process rights are implicated by the issuance of a CDCR recall and resentencing recommendation. In McCallum , supra , 55 Cal.App.5th 202, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336, after examination of the statutory language of section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) in the context of section 1170 as a whole, our colleagues in Division Seven concluded that an inmate has no due process right to a hearing under section 1170, subdivision (d)(1) on the issue of whether the trial court should follow a CDCR recommendation for recall and resentencing. ( Id . at pp. 206, 211–216, 269 Cal.Rptr.3d 336.) However, in light of an inmate's "substantial...