The People v. Woods CA2/1

background, character, and prospects, the defendant may be deemed outside the spirit of the Three Strikes law, in whole or in part, and hence should be treated as though he had not previously been convicted of one or more serious or violent felonies. On appeal, “‘[t]he burden is on the party attacking the sentence to clearly show that the sentencing decision was irrational or arbitrary.’” (People v. Superior Court (Alvarez) (1997) 14 Cal.4th 968, 977.) “Where the Legislature establishes a sentencing norm and requires the court explicitly to justify a departure therefrom, and the court sentences in conformity with the legislative standard, all that is required on the appellate record is a showing that the court was aware of its discretion to select an alternate disposition.” (People v. Langevin (1984) 155 Cal.App.3d 520, 524.)

1 People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.) 2 The record in this case shows that the court was aware of its discretion and that it considered factors in addition to Woods’s prior strike convictions including evidence that he was on felony probation when he committed the current crimes, that this probation was the result of the prior court’s…