People v. Waltz CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2021, a jury convicted William Leroy Waltz of seven counts of arson to forest land in violation of Penal Code section 451, subdivision (c).1 For all seven counts, the jury found true that appellant committed these crimes when a state of emergency existed (§ 454, subd. (a)(2)). The trial court sentenced appellant to prison for 23 years, which included an upper term in count 1, along with consecutive subordinate sentences (one-third the middle term) in the remaining six counts. In 2023, this court issued an unpublished opinion in which we affirmed appellant’s convictions. However, due to retroactive changes in the law, we vacated appellant’s sentence and remanded for resentencing consistent with Senate Bill No. 567 (Stats. 2021, ch. 731, § 1.3.)2 (People v. Waltz (Apr. 5, 2023, F083591).) In January 2024, the trial court resentenced appellant in conformity with the remittitur. Instead of an aggravated term, the court imposed in count 1 the middle term of seven years. For each of the remaining six counts, the court again imposed consecutive subordinate sentences of two years four months (one-third the middle term). Appellant received a total prison sentence of 21…