People v. Johnson

BACKGROUND

In 1998, a jury convicted Johnson of two counts of attempting to dissuade a witness (§ 136.1, subd. (a)(2)). At the time Johnson committed the crimes, attempting to dissuade a witness in violation of section 136.1 was not defined as a serious or violent felony for purposes of the Three Strikes law. Because the jury also found Johnson had suffered three prior convictions for “strike” offenses––robbery (§ 211), residential burglary (§ 459), and assault with personal use of a firearm or infliction of great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(2))––the trial court sentenced him to a term of 28 years to life pursuant to the Three Strikes law. This court affirmed the judgment in a nonpublished opinion (People v. Johnson (Sept. 15, 2000, B128901)).

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 Effective November 7, 2012, the electorate enacted Proposition 36, the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (the Act). (People v. Yearwood (2013) 213 Cal.App.4th 161, 167, 169-170; People v. Superior Court (Kaulick) (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 1279, 1285 (Kaulick).) Among other things, Proposition 36 added section 1170.126, which provides that certain eligible…