C.A. 3rd;
C078874

The Third Appellate District reversed a trial court order and remanded. The court held that a prior out-of-state conviction will render an inmate ineligible for resentencing under the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 only if it would have constituted a disqualifying offense if committed in California.

In 2008, Bobby Carothers pleaded no contest to unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle. He was sentenced as a third strike offender to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in prison. Following enactment of the Reform Act, he filed a petition for resentencing. The trial court denied the petition, finding a 1978 Texas murder conviction rendered Carothers ineligible for resentencing.