P. v. Lopez
Martin Esteban Lopez was convicted of various crimes described in more detail in the companion appeal (People v. Lopez (June 26, 2012, F059831) [nonpub. opn.]). He was released from custody at the sentencing hearing because the custody credits he earned exceeded the sentence imposed (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (a)(3)) (hereafter section 1170(a)(3)).[1] While Lopez’s appeal from the conviction was pending in this court, the trial court held a hearing and placed Lopez on parole and ordered him to report to the parole office. In addition, it calculated the parole termination date from the date of the hearing.
Lopez appeals, arguing the trial court did not have jurisdiction to place him on parole because of the pending appeal. We conclude that the trial court erred in two respects. First, section 1170(a)(3) mandates that all convicted defendants serve a term of parole when their custody credits exceed the sentence imposed at the sentencing hearing. Therefore, Lopez was on parole after the sentencing hearing, even though the trial court failed to inform him of this fact. Second, the trial court erred in calculating Lopez’s parole termination date since his parole began at the sentencing hearing and not at the later hearing. We will remand the matter to allow the trial court to calculate the correct parole termination date.
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