People v. Brady CA4/3

DISCUSSION

“Prison priors are governed by section 667.5. When first enacted in 1976, this section required trial courts to impose a one-year enhancement for any nonviolent felony for which a prison sentence was imposed, unless the defendant remained free of custody for at least five years after completing that sentence.” (People v. Espino (2024) 104 Cal.App.5th 188, 194, review granted Oct. 23, 2024, S286987 (Espino).) Now, section 1172.75 deems certain one-year sentence enhancements for prison priors, imposed before January 1, 2020, to be invalid and sets forth a mechanism for resentencing individuals

2 “serving a term for a judgment” that includes one or more prison priors. (§ 1172.75, subds. (a) & (b).) The sole issue before us in this appeal is whether section 1172.75 entitles a defendant to a resentencing hearing if the defendant’s prison priors were imposed but stricken for the purposes of sentencing. There is a split of authority in the appellate courts regarding whether a trial court must conduct a full resentencing hearing pursuant to section 1172.75 when an invalidated prison prior was imposed and stayed, and the issue is currently pending before the California Supreme…