Error and/or relief
The court sentenced the defendant to a term of 15 years to life for the crime of attempted murder with premeditation. The correct sentence for that offense requires the defendant to serve only seven years before parole eligibility. The sentence imposed on count 2 for attempted murder is reversed and the matter is remanded for resentencing only.
First Holding:
When the punishment for attempted murder is a life term, the defendant must be confined for at least seven years before parole eligibility.
[GARY NOTE: The opinion does not specify why attempted murder in this case carries a sentence of life. The crime is described in the opinion simply as attempted murder. However, the normal sentence for attempted murder is a determinate term of five, seven, or nine years, unless it is pleaded and proved that the murder attempted was willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder, per Penal Code section 664(a). Given that the trial court imposed an indeterminate term, I must assume that the attempted murder qualified for a life sentence, in which case section 3046 requires a minimum of seven years, not fifteen years, before parole eligibility.]Authority:
PEN 3046(a)(1)
Second Holding:
We review the length of the defendant’s attempted murder sentence de novo, as it involves an issue of statutory construction.
Authority:
People v. Jefferson (1999) 21 Cal.4th 86, 94