Court Opinion

ID: 9410811
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-24 17:04:52.578898+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:21:00.408212
License: Public Domain

Filed 07/24/23 P. v. Walker CA4/3

                      NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for
publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication
or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

                IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

                                     FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

                                                DIVISION THREE

 THE PEOPLE,

      Plaintiff and Respondent,                                        G062101

           v.                                                          (Super. Ct. No. 12NF3291)

 RODNEY DWYANE WALKER,                                                 OPINION

      Defendant and Appellant.

                   Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County,
Julian W. Bailey, Judge. Affirmed.
                   Richard L. Fitzer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant
and Appellant.
                   No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
                                          *                  *                  *
              Defendant Rodney Dwyane Walker appeals from the trial court’s summary
denial of his petition for resentencing (Petition) under Penal Code section 1170.18.1
              Based on events that took place in 2012, a complaint charged defendant
with second degree robbery (§§ 211, 212.5, subd. (c)), with an enhancement for being
armed with a firearm at the time (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)), along with various other felonies
and misdemeanors. It also alleged he had suffered more than two prior serious and
violent strike convictions within the meaning of the “Three Strikes” law (§§ 667, subds.
(b)-(i), 1170.12), and two prior serious felony convictions (§§ 667, subd. (a)(1), 1192.7,
subd. (c)). A jury convicted defendant of second degree robbery, among other crimes,
and found that during the commission of the robbery offense, defendant was armed with
a firearm. Defendant admitted 12 prior strike convictions and the two prior serious
felony convictions. The trial court struck the firearm enhancement for sentencing
purposes only and sentenced defendant to a total prison term of 35 years to life. This
court affirmed the judgment in a nonpublished opinion.2 (People v. Walker (June 20,
2016, G052496) [nonpub. opn.].)
              In 2021, defendant filed the Petition seeking resentencing. The trial court
summarily denied the Petition based on the conclusion defendant was not eligible for
relief because robbery is not a crime to which section 1170.18 applies. Defendant timely
appealed.
              We appointed counsel to represent defendant on appeal. Counsel filed a
brief summarizing the proceedings and facts of the case and advised this court he found
no arguable issues to assert on defendant’s behalf. (Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S.
738; People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) Thereafter, this court notified defendant he

1             All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2             This court’s prior opinion provides a detailed summary of the events
leading to defendant’s arrest. The underlying facts of the crimes are not relevant to the
disposition of this appeal.

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could file a supplemental brief on his own behalf. We received no supplemental brief
from defendant and the time to file one has passed.
              To assist us in our review, counsel suggested we consider whether a person
convicted of second-degree robbery is eligible for resentencing.
                                      DISCUSSION
              We have independently reviewed the entire record as required under Anders
v. California, supra, 386 U.S. 738 and People v. Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436, and have
found no arguable issues on appeal. Therefore, we affirm the postjudgment order.
              Enacted in 2014, Proposition 47, codified at section 1170.18, made “certain
drug- and theft-related offenses misdemeanors, unless the offenses were committed by
certain ineligible defendants. These offenses had previously been designated as either
felonies or wobblers (crimes that can be punished as either felonies or misdemeanors).”
(People v. Rivera (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 1085, 1091.) A person serving a felony
sentence for an offense that is now a misdemeanor under section 1170.18 may petition
for resentencing. (Ibid.)
              “Robbery is the ‘felonious taking of personal property in the possession of
another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by
means of force or fear.’ (§ 211.) It is “the use of force or fear which distinguishes
robbery from grand theft [or petty theft] from the person.” (People v. Mungia (1991)
234 Cal.App.3d 1703, 1707.)
              Robbery is and always has been a felony. (§ 213, subd. (a)(2).) It is not
one of the crimes reduced to a misdemeanor by Proposition 47. (§ 1170.18, subd. (a).)
Accordingly, we conclude the trial court correctly determined, based on the record of
conviction in this case, defendant was not eligible for relief under section 1170.18 as a
matter of law. It follows the trial court did not err by summarily denying the Petition
without conducting further proceedings. And, because the court did not err, defendant
was not prejudiced by the challenged order.

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             Counsel’s assessment there were no arguable issues to raise on appeal was
manifestly correct. Nothing revealed by our own independent review of the record
suggests otherwise.
                                   DISPOSITION
             The postjudgment order is affirmed.

                                              DELANEY, J.

WE CONCUR:

O’LEARY, P. J.

BEDSWORTH, J.

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