People v. Fontanilla CA5

DISCUSSION

Effective January 1, 2022, Senate Bill No. 567 amended section 1170, subdivision (b). (Stats. 2021, ch. 731, § 1.3.) Section 1170, subdivision (b)(2) now provides, “[t]he court may impose a sentence exceeding the middle term only when there are circumstances in aggravation of the crime that justify the imposition of a term of imprisonment exceeding the middle term, and the facts underlying those circumstances have been stipulated to by the defendant, or have been found true beyond a reasonable doubt at trial by the jury or by the judge in a court trial.” The court may consider the fact of the defendant’s prior convictions based on a certified record of conviction without it having been stipulated to by the defendant or found true beyond a reasonable doubt at trial by a jury or the judge in a court trial. (§ 1170, subd. (b)(3).) There is no indication that the Legislature did not intend Senate Bill No. 567 to apply retroactively to convicted defendants whose cases are not yet final. Absent a contrary indication from the Legislature, a defendant whose case is not yet final is entitled to the ameliorating benefits of newly enacted sentencing statutes. (In re Estrada…