People v. Williams CA3

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was convicted in 2012 of two counts of car jacking (§ 215, subd. (a)), two counts of second-degree robbery (§ 211), and one count of dissuading a witness (§ 136.1, subd. (b)(1)), with various firearm enhancements (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subd. (b)). He was sentenced to state prison for an aggregate determinate term of 30 years eight months. Defendant’s sentence was adjusted several times over the years. By 2022, defendant’s sentence had been reduced to an aggregate determinate term of 18 years eight months. Defendant filed a pro se request for resentencing pursuant to Assembly Bill 600 in November 2023. The trial court appointed counsel and set a hearing on the request. Defendant submitted letters and other documentation in support of the request. The prosecution filed an “informational brief” in response, urging the trial court to decline defendant’s invitation for resentencing and drop the matter from the calendar. The trial court ruled from the bench in March 2024, stating: “Mr. Williams has filed with the [c]ourt an invitation to recall and resentence him pursuant to . . . section 1172.1. The [c]ourt declines the invitation.” The trial…