People v. Hancock CA1/1

BACKGROUND

In 1999, a jury convicted Hancock of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced him to 39 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. At the time of sentencing, Hancock would have been subject to lifetime parole under section 3000.1 if he were placed on parole. In 2020, the Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 118 (2019–2020 Reg. Sess.), which implemented section 3000.01. (Stats. 2020, ch. 29, § 18.) The law applies to any person released from prison on or after July 1, 2020, and it governs the parole periods for those subject to supervision under section 3000.08. As relevant here, the law limits parole terms to three years for inmates serving an indeterminate sentence. (§ 3000.01, subd. (b).) In October 2020, Hancock was released on parole for a term of three years. In 2022, while on parole, he allegedly committed sex crimes involving a child under the age of 14 years. The district attorney brought charges and petitioned to revoke Hancock’s parole. Both the complaint and petition charged Hancock with two counts of committing a lewd act upon a child. (§ 288, subds. (a), (c)(1).) The…