In People v. Lara, the Supreme Court today resolves a procedural question under Proposition 47, the 2014 initiative that reduces punishment and allows resentencing for certain crimes. The court’s unanimous opinion by Justice Leondra Kruger concludes that a defendant who is sentenced after Proposition 47 took effect for a crime committed before it took effect, does not need to meet the law’s resentencing standards, which are more restrictive than are the standards for a sentencing in the first instance. The Attorney General didn’t disagree.
The defendant loses in this case, however, because the court finds the evidence was sufficient to support a felony conviction that is ineligible for a Proposition 47 punishment reduction.
The court affirms the judgment of the Fourth District, Division Two, Court of Appeal, although not its reasoning. The appellate court had held in a divided opinion that Proposition 47 didn’t apply at all to the Vehicle Code statute that the defendant was convicted of violating. The Supreme Court originally granted review and held the case pending its decision in People v. Page, which concluded that Proposition 47 can apply to some crimes under the statute. It then un-held the matter and ordered briefing on the issue it decides today.