LEGAL UPDATES
August 28, 2023

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CA 1st Appellate District Decision re Required Foundation to Trigger Presumptive Lower Sentencing Based on Youth:
April CA 1st District of Appeal case holding that in order to invoke Penal Code section 1170 (b)(6)(B)’s presumptive imposition of the lower sentencing term, an initial showing must be made that the defendant’s youth contributed to the crime. In this case, defendant was 23 years-old when she was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of marijuana for sale.  She pleaded no contest and was placed on probation per the plea agreement.  Three years later she admitted a probation violation.  The trial court revoked her probation and sentenced her to the middle term: a five-year stint in the local prison.  The Defendant appealed arguing that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to follow Penal Code section 1170(b)(6)(B) sentencing requirements to impose the lower term if the defendant’s youth was a contributing factor of the crime’s commission. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s sentence and agreed that trial court was NOT required to follow section 1170 (b)(6)(B)’s guidelines because there was nothing in the record demonstrating that the defendant’s youth was a contributing factor to her offense.  Accordingly, there was no abuse of discretion.

From the Law Offices of Jones Mayer: 
CPOC received these legal alerts from the Law Offices of Jones and Mayer. CPOC is not a client of Jones and Mayer; however, they forward their alerts to CPOC so we are sending along the information to you as an FYI. Should you have questions regarding the information contained within this memo, we encourage you to speak with your county counsel for legal guidance as this information was not written for probation; however, you may find in these alerts some useful or pertinent information.