People v. Galafate CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Roman Galafate III (appellant) was convicted of first degree murder with a special circumstance and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The judgment was affirmed on direct appeal. His numerous petitions seeking reversal and resentencing have been denied. The instant appeal is from the trial court’s order in 2023, that denied appellant’s motion for a youthful offender hearing. The court relied on existing statutory and case authorities that exclude a prisoner sentenced to LWOP from receiving a youthful offender hearing, and rejected appellant’s equal protection arguments. In their initial briefing on appeal, the parties acknowledged there were conflicting opinions from appellate courts on the constitutional issue. The California Supreme Court has now resolved this matter and held the statutory exclusion is not unconstitutional. We affirm the trial court’s order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1989, appellant and his then-wife, codefendant Leny Petersen Galafate (Leny),1 were convicted after a joint jury trial of count 1, first degree premeditated murder of Violeta Peterson (Violeta), with the special circumstance…