People v. Williams CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant and defendant Pamela Lyn Williams was convicted of robbery in 2014 and sentenced to a second strike term of 12 years in prison, which included a five-year term for a prior serious felony conviction enhancement (Pen. Code, §667, subd. (a)). 1 In 2019, while defendant was serving her prison term, the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) sent a letter to the Superior Court of Stanislaus County pursuant to section 1170, subdivision (d), and recommended recall and resentencing in defendant’s case because the court now had discretion to dismiss the prior serious felony enhancement based on legislation enacted after her sentencing hearing. The superior court declined to recall her sentence. On appeal, defendant argues the court abused its discretion because it improperly focused on her criminal history and failed to consider evidence of her good behavior in prison. We find the court did not abuse its discretion and affirm.

FACTS2

On April 22, 2013, at about 6:00 p.m., the victim and his friend entered a gas station store in Modesto. As they did, they noticed defendant sitting in the driver’s seat of a car with three men…