People v. Williams

I. BACKGROUND

A. Trial Court Proceedings The facts of defendant’s crime are not important for our purposes. A trial jury found him guilty of robbery and burglary. In 1996, the trial court sentenced him to 35 years to life in prison, with the bulk of that sentence attributable to the “Three Strikes” law. Decades later, in early 2021, defendant filed in the trial court what he styled as a “Petition for Modification of Sentence (Pursuant to P.C. 1170(d)(1).).” Defendant asked the court to modify his 1996 judgment based on “charging and sentencing policies” adopted by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. In a memorandum of points and authorities accompanying his petition, defendant quoted Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (d)(1)1 and argued his 1996 sentence could be

* Baker, Acting P. J., Moor, J., Kim, J. 1 In relevant part, the statute at the time of defendant’s petition provided: “When a defendant subject to this section . . . has been sentenced to be imprisoned in the state prison or a county jail pursuant to subdivision (h) and has been committed to the custody of the secretary or the county correctional administrator, the court may, within 120 days of the…