People v. Sasser
Annotate this CaseDefendant, a second-strike offender, was convicted of eleven offenses arising from sexual assaults on two separate victims. At issue in this appeal was the trial court’s imposition of an alternative sentence under the One Strike law. The court sentenced Defendant to twenty-five years to life for each of his two rape convictions then doubled the minimum terms for the life sentences pursuant to the Three Strikes Law and added five-year prior serious felony enhancements to both. On the remaining counts, the court imposed determinate terms of seventeen years each - the sum of the middle term of six years, doubled pursuant to the Three Strikes Law - plus a five-year prior serious felony enhancement. Defendant’s alternative sentence totaled 229 years to life, which the court stayed in light its sentence original of 495 years to life. The Supreme Court granted review to determine whether the prior serious felony enhancement may be applied to the term imposed for each offense or only once to the determinate portion of the overall sentence. The Supreme Court vacated Defendant’s stayed sentence of 229 years to life and remanded for resentencing, holding that the prior serious felony enhancement may be added only once to multiple determinate terms imposed as part of a second-strike sentence.
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