P. v. Mazza
Defendant Bryan Edward Mazza appeals from the trial court’s judgment after a jury trial, in which he was found guilty on a number of counts related to armed robberies and/or attempted armed robberies that occurred in October 2005 in Contra Costa County. Defendant argues the trial court prejudicially erred by denying his motion to sever certain counts; that the prosecutor committed multiple instances of prejudicial misconduct and that he, defendant, received ineffective assistance of counsel to the extent his trial counsel did not object; and requests this court review the lower court’s Pitchess ruling for abuse of discretion. (Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531 (Pitchess)
The People cross-appeal that the trial court’s dismissal of defendant’s previous three strike convictions pursuant to Penal Code section 1385[1] was ineffective for lack of a statement of reasons in the court’s minutes, requiring that sentencing be reversed and the matter remanded; defendant does not disagree. The People otherwise argue we should affirm the judgment.
We affirm the judgment, except that we reverse the sentence for the reasons argued by the People and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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