California v. Carothers
Annotate this CaseDefendant Bobby Carothers, then-serving a prison term of 25 years to life imposed in 2008 under the three strikes law, appealed the denial of his petition for resentencing under Proposition 36, the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012. He argued the trial court erred in finding he was not eligible for resentencing because he was convicted of murder in Texas in 1978. Under the Act, a prior conviction for a number of enumerated offenses, including “[a]ny homicide offense, including any attempted homicide offense, defined in Sections 187 to 191.5” of the Penal Code, rendered an inmate ineligible for resentencing. Defendant’s argued: (1) only California convictions could render an inmate ineligible for resentencing under the Act; and (2) even if a prior out-of-state conviction could render an inmate ineligible for resentencing, the record of defendant’s Texas murder conviction did not necessarily show he committed a murder as that crime was defined under California law. The Court of Appeals concluded a prior out-of-state conviction would render an inmate ineligible for resentencing under the Act if the crime committed in the other state would have disqualified the inmate had that crime been committed in California. However, because the crime defendant was convicted of committing in Texas might not have been a murder in California, an enumerated disqualifying offense, the trial court incorrectly concluded he was ineligible for resentencing. The Court reversed for a determination as to whether or not resentencing him would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.
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