People v. Edwards CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

In 2007, defendant was charged with one count of second degree robbery against Maria Viteri (Viteri) (count 1), one count of forgery for forging a check from Viteri’s Washington Mutual account (count 2), and one count of second degree commercial burglary for entering a Washington Mutual Bank with the intent to commit larceny (count 3). The information also included multiple sentencing allegations, including several prior “strike” convictions under the Three Strikes law. After trial, a jury found defendant guilty on all three charged counts. The trial court found prior conviction sentencing allegations true, including the aforementioned three prior serious

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code.

2 felony conviction allegations and the aforementioned prior prison term allegation. The trial court imposed an aggregate 66 years to life prison sentence: two 25 years to life terms (consecutive) pursuant to the Three Strikes law (the sentence on the burglary conviction was stayed pursuant to section 654), 15 years for the prior serious felony conviction enhancements, and one year for the prior prison term enhancement. In 2022, the Secretary…