Opinion ID: 2814245
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Heading: facts

Text: In 1998, a jury convicted Timothy Wayne Johnson of two counts of attempting to dissuade a witness. (Pen. Code, § 136.1, subd. (a)(2); all further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.) The jury also found that he had suffered three prior convictions — robbery (§ 211), first degree burglary (§ 459), and assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2)). Based on Johnson‟s prior convictions, the trial court sentenced him to two terms of 25 years to life under the Three Strikes law (§§ 667, subd. (e)(2), 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)), to be served concurrently, and an additional term of three years for the three prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). In 1998, a jury convicted Oscar Machado of one count of first degree burglary and one count of second degree burglary. (§§ 459, 460.) The trial court found true the allegation that he had suffered two prior convictions, both for robbery (§ 211), and sentenced him to two terms of 25 years to life, to be served consecutively. (§§ 667, subds. (c)(6), (e)(2), 1170.12, subds. (a)(6), (c)(2).) 2 As noted, in 2012, the electorate passed Proposition 36. The Act authorizes prisoners serving third-strike sentences whose “current” offense (i.e., the offense for which the third-strike sentence was imposed) is not a serious or violent felony to petition for recall of the sentence and for resentencing as a second-strike case. (§ 1170.126, subd. (f); see §§ 667, subd. (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1).) Following the enactment of Proposition 36, Johnson filed a petition for recall of his sentence. The trial court denied his petition on the ground that his current offenses are serious or violent felonies, rendering him ineligible for recall of his sentence. Although his current offenses were not classified as serious or violent felonies when he committed them in 1998, the crime of intimidating a victim or witness (§ 136.1) was subsequently classified as a serious and violent felony by Proposition 21, the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act of 1998, which the voters approved in 2000. (§§ 667.5, subd. (c)(20), 1192.7, subd. (c)(37).) The Court of Appeal agreed that a prisoner whose current offense was a serious or violent offense on November 7, 2012, the effective date of Proposition 36, is not eligible for resentencing, and affirmed the order. Machado filed a petition for recall of his sentence for second degree burglary. The trial court denied his petition on the ground that his conviction for first degree burglary, which is a serious felony, rendered him ineligible for resentencing with respect to his second degree burglary conviction, which is neither serious nor violent. The Court of Appeal reversed that judgment, and directed the trial court to reconsider his eligibility for resentencing with respect to his conviction for second degree burglary. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that when a court resentences a third-strike defendant the classification of an offense as serious or violent is based on the law as of November 7, 2012, the effective date of Proposition 36, and that the presence of a current offense that is serious or violent does not disqualify an 3 inmate from resentencing with respect to a current offense that is neither serious nor violent. Therefore, we affirm the appellate court judgments in both of these cases.