People v. Zavala CA4/2

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Francisco Roy Zavala, Jr., was sentenced to death in

2015 for first degree, special-circumstance murder. He appeals from the trial court’s

order denying him relief under Penal Code section 1172.75—the statute that provides a

mechanism for resentencing individuals “currently serving a term for a judgment that

includes” a now invalid one-year prior-prison-term enhancement imposed under Penal

Code section 667.5, former subdivision (b). (Pen. Code, § 1172.75, subd. (b).)

After the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)

identified Zavala as potentially eligible for resentencing under section 1172.75, the trial

court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to resentence Zavala because his automatic

appeal from the judgment of death is still pending in the California Supreme Court. The

court also concluded that, even if it had jurisdiction, Zavala was not entitled to relief

under section 1172.75 because his prior-prison-term enhancement was stayed.

Zavala challenges the trial court’s order, arguing that (1) section 1172.

constitutes an exception to the general rule that a pending appeal divests the trial court…