People v. Rhodes CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2013, appellant Alvis Vernon Rhodes entered into a negotiated disposition and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, admitted enhancements and a prior strike conviction, and was sentenced to an aggregate second strike term of 18 years in prison. In 2020, Rhodes filed a petition in the superior court, in pro. per., for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1170.91, that “obligate[s] a sentencing court to consider a criminal defendant’s qualifying service-related conditions as mitigating circumstances in making discretionary sentencing choices.” (People v. Panozo (2021) 59 Cal.App.5th 825, 831 (Panozo).) The superior court denied the petition and found such factors were considered at his sentencing hearing in 2013. On appeal, Rhodes’s appellate counsel has filed a brief which summarizes the facts with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) We affirm.

FACTS2

At 9:30 p.m. on May 17, 2006, officers from the Modesto Police Department responded to a report of a Jeep Cherokee, driven by Rhodes, chasing a man on a bicycle, later identified as Ronald…