People v. Wong CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

In 2008, Wong, then 19 years old, shot and killed his bookie. The next year, Wong shot and killed his coworker, who acted as a go-between for him with another bookie. In 2012, a jury convicted Wong of two counts of murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)) with a multiple murder special circumstance finding (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)). He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus 50 years. In 2015, we affirmed the judgment. (People v. Wong (June 16, 2015, A137584) [nonpub. opn.].) In July 2023, Wong moved for a hearing to preserve evidence for use at a future youth offender parole hearing pursuant to section 1203.01. (People v. Franklin (2016) 63 Cal.4th 261; In re Cook (2019) 7 Cal.5th 439.) The trial court denied the motion, finding he was ineligible for a youth offender parole hearing under section 3051, subdivision (h) because he was older than 18 when he committed the crimes.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Youth Offender Parole Statute “California’s youth offender parole statute offers opportunities for early release to certain persons who are incarcerated for crimes they committed at a young age. (Pen. Code, §§ 3051, 4801.) When it was first enacted in…