People v. Banks CA2/3

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Rodney Banks of the crime of possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of Penal Code1, section 29800, subdivision (a)(1). Over the objection of Banks’s counsel, who argued that Banks was entitled to a jury trial on the prior strike allegations against him, the court took judicial notice of Banks’s two strike priors and sentenced him to the midterm of two years, which the court doubled pursuant to section 1170.12. On appeal, Banks argues that he was entitled to a jury trial on the prior strike allegations under sections 1025 and 1158 and that the denial of any trial on those allegations violated his due process rights. The Attorney General concedes, and we agree, that the court erred in denying Banks a jury trial on the prior strike allegations and that the appropriate remedy is to remand for further proceedings. Accordingly, we vacate the implicit “true” findings on Banks’s prior strikes2 and his sentence, and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On March 11, 2023, Officer Omar Covarrubias and his partner were patrolling an apartment complex when they observed a group in the apartment parking lot.…