People v. Cutting
Annotate this Case
Defendant appealed his sentence imposed after remand for resentencing with the direction that the trial court strike a nine-year enhancement imposed under Health and Safety Code section 11370.2, subdivision (a).
The Court of Appeal reversed defendant's sentence and held that his absence from the resentencing hearing constitutes federal constitutional error requiring reversal unless the People demonstrate the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, the People have not done so and the court could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant's presence at resentencing would not have influenced the trial court's exercise of its discretion, and thus affected the outcome. Accordingly, the court remanded for a new resentencing.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.