People v. Bass CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

In 2018, appellant Amir Bass entered an open plea of no contest to first degree burglary and was sentenced to three years of probation and a suspended sentence of 11 years in prison. In 2023, the trial court found appellant in violation of his probation, terminated probation, and imposed the 11-year prison sentence. The court denied appellant’s request to strike a five-year prior serious felony enhancement under Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a) (section 667(a)),1 stating that it did not believe it could revisit the sentence. Appellant argues that the trial court erroneously believed it lacked the discretion to strike the section 667(a) enhancement and therefore abused its discretion. We agree and therefore remand the matter to allow the trial court to properly exercise its independent discretion in sentencing appellant.

BACKGROUND2

An information filed in 2018 charged appellant with two counts of first degree burglary with a person present (§ 459; counts one and two) and one count of grand theft of access card account information (§ 484e, subd. (d); count three). The information also alleged that appellant suffered a prior strike conviction (§§ 667, subds.…