Editor’s Note: Review granted. The trial court did not err when it imposed the 15 percent limitation on defendant’s presentence custody credits pursuant to Penal Code section 2933.1 upon appellant’s sentence for first degree murder. Appellant had argued that enactment of section 2933.1 by the Legislature in 1994 did not change the calculation of presentence credits for murders sentenced under section 190, which was an initiative measure passed by the voters. The appellate court here rejected that argument. More recent case law has concluded that although the Legislature may not decrease the punishment for murder without voter approval, there is no bar to the Legislature increasing the punishment for murder either directly or indirectly (i.e., by way of the credit limitation) without voter approval.
Case Summaries