People v. Gastelum CA6

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was convicted in 1997 of first degree burglary (§§ 459, 460, subd. (a)), possession of a firearm by a felon (former § 12021, subd. (a)), and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)). It was further found true that defendant had a prior prison term (former section 667.5, subd. (b)), a prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)), and four prior strike convictions (§ 667, subds. (b)–(i)). Denying defendant’s motion to dismiss his prior strike convictions under section 1385, the trial court sentenced him under the Three Strikes law to an indeterminate term of 50 years to life for the two felonies, consecutive to an additional five-year enhancement for the prior serious felony. (A six-month jail term for the misdemeanor was satisfied by time served.) As for the enhancement under former section 667.5, subdivision (b), the trial court stated: “The prison prior, having been found true, which is a one-year prior, I strike the punishment for that in the interest of justice.” On remand for resentencing in 1999, the trial court reimposed the original sentence, concluding that the burglary and firearm…