Bueno

The three strikes law prescribes increased punishment for a person who is convicted of a felony after sustaining one or more qualifying prior felony convictions, commonly known as “strikes.” (Pen. Code, §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12.) Defendant Anthony M. Bueno was convicted of inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant. He was sentenced to a prison term of 25 years to life based in part on two prior strikes on his record. Bueno contends that the People failed to prove that his 1996 conviction for battery with serious bodily injury was a serious felony for purposes of three strike sentencing. We agree and remand for retrial of that issue. We reject Bueno’s separate challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for inflicting corporal injury to a cohabitant.

Procedural Background

In December 2004, the Napa County District Attorney filed an amended information charging defendant Anthony M. Bueno with inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a)) and making a criminal threat (§ 422). The information alleged that Bueno suffered two prior serious felony convictions within the meaning of the three strikes law.

The jury…