People v. Brown CA2/4

DISCUSSION

I. Applicable Law

Previously, section 667.5, subdivision (b) required the trial courts to impose a one-year sentence enhancement for each true finding on an allegation that defendant served a separate prior prison term and had not remained free of custody for at least five years. (Former § 667.5, subd. (b); People v. Renteria (2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 1276, 1282; People v. Jennings (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 664, 681.) However, with the enactment of Senate Bill No. 136 (effective Jan. 1, 2020), the Legislature amended subdivision (b) of section 667.5 to impose a one-year enhancement only for each prior term served for a conviction of a sexually violent offense. (Stats. 2019, ch. 590, § 1.) “Enhancements based on prior prison terms served for other offenses became legally invalid.” (People v. Burgess (2022) 86 Cal.App.5th 375, 380 (Burgess).) The Legislature later enacted Senate Bill No. 483, effective January 1, 2022, to make the changes implemented by Senate Bill No. 136 retroactive by adding former section 1171.1 (now section 1172.75)2 to the Penal Code. (See Stats. 2021, ch. 728, § 1 [“it is the intent of the Legislature to retroactively apply . . . Senate Bill 136 . .…