Johnson v. Superior Court CA2/3
Due process protects a defendant from vindictive prosecution, that is, an increase in sentence or charges after his or her exercise of a constitutional or statutory right under circumstances that are deemed to present a reasonable likelihood of vindictiveness. After petitioner Cleamon Demone Johnson’s two first degree murder convictions were overturned by the California Supreme Court in 2011, on remand the People charged him, in addition to the two original murders, with four additional crimes: three murders and an attempted murder committed in the early and mid-1990s, as well as gang enhancements on the original and new charges. In this writ proceeding, we consider and reject Johnson’s contention that the new charges and enhancement allegations must be dismissed as vindictive. We hold that, assuming a presumption of vindictiveness arose, the People successfully rebutted it. The fact Johnson no longer stands convicted of any crime is an objective change in circumstances that l
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