People v. Casas CA6

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged in 2016 with attempted murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. He was alleged to have personally used a firearm and committed the offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang. According to the record, the charges stemmed from an incident in which defendant and another man approached a parked car with a gun and fired shots after one of them scuffled with the driver. Defendant pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm, admitted gang and firearm allegations, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Currently serving his sentence, defendant has sought resentencing based on changes in the law. As relevant to this appeal, in January 2025 he asked that his sentence be recalled under Penal Code section 1172.1. (Unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.) In connection with that request, he stated that he did not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety and that post-conviction factors reflected “a de-escalation in criminality.” He also identified various changes to sentencing laws that he asserted would apply if he were to be resentenced. Referencing section 1172.1, subdivision (c), the trial court stated that…