People v. Davis CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

In 1999, Bayard Devell Davis was sentenced to state prison for 53 years, eight months to life for committing a troubling series of residential burglaries, assaults, and sex crimes against elderly victims when Davis was 14 years old. In 2023, Davis filed a petition for recall and resentencing under Penal

Code section 1170, subdivision (d).1 The trial court denied the petition, finding that Davis did not establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, either of the qualifying circumstances he proffered in support of his request for relief. Specifically, the court found that Davis failed to establish: (1) he did not have juvenile felony adjudications for assault or other felony crimes with a significant potential for personal harm to victims prior to the offenses for which the sentence was being considered for recall (§ 1170, subd. (d)(2)(B)); or (2) he had performed acts that tended to indicate rehabilitation or the potential for rehabilitation (id., subd. (d)(2)(D)). On appeal from the denial order, Davis argues the trial court erred when it found that he did not establish either qualifying circumstance. We agree with Davis that he adequately demonstrated he did not…