People v. Stevens CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

Following a hearing conducted pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6, subdivision (d) (former section 1170.95),1 the trial court denied defendant Frank Stevens’s resentencing petition based on a factual summary from an appellate opinion.2 On appeal, defendant contends that the court erred in relying solely on the appellate opinion and that there was insufficient evidence to support the court’s findings. Because any error in relying on the opinion was harmless, we affirm.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND3

Cafeteria owner Ronald Ross customarily carried large amounts of cash from home to work on Fridays. He also regularly picked up his employee, George Chapman, on his way to work at 4:45 a.m. near the intersection of 90th Street and

Effective June 30, 2022, Penal Code section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in text (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10). All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

The trial court relied on the factual statement from the unpublished opinion in the direct appeal from defendant’s judgment of conviction, People v. Stevens (Feb. 4, 1985, B004310) [nonpub. opn.] (the appellate…