People v. Saenz CA4/2

BACKGROUND

In May 2019, under the terms of his plea agreement, defendant pled guilty to

making a criminal threat (§ 422), assault likely to cause great bodily injury (§ 245), and

possession of heroin in county jail (§ 4573.6). Defendant also admitted two prior prison

commitments. (§ 667, subd. (b).) Consistent with defendant’s plea terms, the trial court

sentenced defendant to an aggregate prison term of four years eight months. As relevant

here, the court imposed but stayed execution of one-year enhanced terms for each of

defendant’s prison priors.

In December 2023 the trial court considered defendant’s eligibility for recall of his

sentence and resentencing under section 1172.75. The court found he was ineligible.

Defendant’s case was one of dozens considered together that day by stipulation of

the parties, pursuant to which the court operated under the assumption that each

defendant’s “one-year prior state prison enhancement(s) had been ‘stayed.’ ”

In reaching the conclusion defendant was ineligible for relief, the court noted

expressly that it had considered several recently decided cases: People v. Saldana (2023)

97 Cal.App.5th 1270 (Saldana), review granted…