P. v. Burton CA4/2
Defendant and respondent Ricky Burton suffered two prior strike convictions, first degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459) and first degree robbery (§ 211), as a result of offenses he committed in 1995. In 2001, he was convicted of two drug offenses by a jury, and his two strikes were found to be true. Under the Three Strikes law, the trial court sentenced him to 25 years to life. On July 10, 2015, he petitioned for resentencing in light of Vargas, in which the California Supreme Court held that two prior convictions arising out of a single act against a single victim cannot constitute two separate strikes, and the sentencing court should dismiss one of them. Defendant argued that because the two strikes used to qualify him for “three strikes” sentencing were based on the same single act, the trial court was required to dismiss one of them and resentence him. The trial court agreed and ordered defendant to be resentenced. The People appeal the resentencing court’s order, ar
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