People v. Williams CA3

DISCUSSION

Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion in imposing the upper term. Specifically, he contends that the trial court’s use of the 1996 conviction as the basis of an aggravating factor was insufficient for an upper term because of the conviction’s age. We disagree. Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (b)(3) allows a defendant’s prior convictions to be used as the basis for aggravating factors to impose an upper term. (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (b)(1)-(3).) As our Supreme Court has recognized, consideration of prior convictions may establish one or more recidivism-based factors in aggravation. (People v. Capistrano (2014) 59 Cal.4th 830, 884.) And a trial court’s selection of a term under Penal Code section 1170 is reviewed for abuse of discretion. (People v. Salazar (2023) 15 Cal.5th 416, 428, fn. 8.) There is no abuse of discretion unless the decision “is so irrational or arbitrary that no reasonable person could agree with it.” (People v. Carmony (2004) 33 Cal.4th 367, 377.) Here, defendant admitted the 1996 conviction for manufacturing a controlled substance and does not question the court’s authority to consider the nature of a prior conviction for…