Prior serious felony enhancement must be applied to each term imposed in a two strike sentence. Resentencing after remand. Sasser was convicted of multiple sex offenses against two women. A number of enhancements, including under the One Strike law, were found true. He admitted a prior serious felony conviction. Sasser’s first appeal resulted in a reversal of several counts and remand for correction of his sentence. In the published portion of its opinion the Court of Appeal addressed Sasser’s challenge to the trial court’s imposition of a five year prior serious felony enhancement on each count of the entire determinate portion of his sentence; he claimed that only one such enhancement could be imposed. Held: Affirmed. In People v. Tassell (1984) 36 Cal.3d 77, the court held only one prior serious felony enhancement could be imposed when an aggregate sentence is comprised of determinate terms imposed pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.1. Sasser, however, was sentenced under the Three Strikes law. In People v. Williams (2004) 34 Cal.4th 397, the court held a section 667, subdivision (a) enhancement could be applied to each indeterminate count of a three strike sentence. In People v. Misa (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 837, the court held a section 667, subdivision (a) enhancement could be imposed on both a two strike determinate term as well as a three strike indeterminate term. Similarly, here the trial court correctly applied a section 667, subdivision (a) enhancement to each count of Sasser’s two strike sentence.
Case Summaries