People v. Makuach CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Matthew John Makuach stole a Rolex watch from a teenager at gunpoint and shot a firearm five times as he fled the crime scene. Makuach pleaded guilty to robbery and admitted he intentionally and personally discharged a firearm pursuant to a plea agreement with a stipulated sentence of 12 to 22 years. The trial court sentenced him to prison for an aggregate term of 22 years, consisting of the low term of two years for the robbery conviction and 20 years for the firearm enhancement. On appeal from the judgment of conviction, Makuach contends the trial court abused its sentencing discretion because it was unaware it had a mandatory statutory obligation to assign significant value to an applicable mitigating circumstance—specifically, the fact that imposition of the firearm enhancement could result in a sentence of over 20 years—when it decided

whether to strike the enhancement. (Pen. Code, § 1385, subd. (c)(2)(C).)1 The People do not contest the sentencing error, but they claim Makuach forfeited his appellate argument and suffered no prejudice from the error. We reject both of these arguments. Therefore, we reverse the judgment and remand the matter for resentencing…