People v. Brazeal-Nelson CA1/5

BACKGROUND

A.

The Legislature enacted section 3051 to bring juvenile sentencing into conformity with United States and California Supreme Court cases addressing Eighth Amendment limits on juvenile sentencing. (People v. Franklin (2016) 63 Cal.4th 261, 277; People v. Sands (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 193, 197-198 (Sands).) The statute “offers opportunities for early release to certain persons who are incarcerated for crimes they committed at a young age.” (People v. Hardin (2024) 15 Cal.5th 834, 838 (Hardin).) With certain exceptions, people convicted of an offense committed when they were 25 or younger “shall be eligible for release on parole at a youth offender parole hearing” during their 15th, 20th, or 25th year of incarceration, depending on the sentence originally imposed. (§ 3051, subds. (b)(1)-(3), (h); Hardin, at p. 838.)

Several categories of juvenile and young adult offenders are statutorily excluded from eligibility for youth offender parole. Among them are offenders who, like Brazeal-Nelson, were sentenced to LWOP for an offense committed when they were 18 or older. (§ 3051, subd. (h); Hardin, supra, 15 Cal.5th at pp. 838- 839; Sands, supra, 70 Cal.App.5th at p.…