People v. Smith CA3

BACKGROUND

On December 17, 2020, defendant pleaded no contest to grand theft. (§ 487, subd. (a).) In accord with the plea agreement, the trial court sentenced defendant to the stipulated upper term of three years in county jail. The sentence was suspended, and defendant was placed on two years of formal probation through the program. Among other things, the terms of probation required defendant to comply with the program rules, conditions, and contract.3 Defendant was required to successfully participate for at least

2 We note defendant does not argue he was presumptively entitled to a lower term sentence (see § 1170, subd. (b)(6)(A)-(C)), or point to anything in the record suggesting as much, which would arguably require us to apply a different analysis. Instead, he broadly argues that in the absence of aggravating factors found or stipulated to be true, the trial court erred in executing his upper term sentence and was required to provide him with a resentencing hearing. 3 Neither the plea agreement form nor the program’s contract were included in the record on appeal, but the terms are generally described by the trial court. There is no dispute that defendant was properly…