People v. Dozier

In People v. Dozier (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 1195, the defendant was convicted of attempted premeditated murder with a straight life sentence with the possibility of parole ( 3046) and also faced a third-strike sentence. The trial court tripled section 3046's minimum parole eligibility period of seven years and imposed the third-strike term of 21 years to life. (People v. Dozier, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 1200.) The court held that in light of Jefferson, the imposition of the 21-years-to-life sentence as the third-strike term was "wrong because the minimum term of the indeterminate life sentence imposed on a third strike defendant can never be less than 25 years" under section 667, subdivision (e)(2)(A). (Id. at pp. 1201-1202.) However, the court also held that, in choosing the minimum term of the indeterminate term for a third-strike offender under the three options of subdivision (e)(2)(A), where the term otherwise provided for the current offense is a life sentence with possibility of parole but without a stated minimum term, the trial court should only select between option (ii) (25 years to life) and option (iii) ("any period prescribed by Section ... 3046" as the minimum parole eligibility date), whichever produces the greater sentence. Dozier held that tripling the straight indeterminate life sentence ( 3046) under option (i) could never be a viable alternative for a third-strike defendant. (Ibid.) It concluded defendant should have been sentenced to 25 years to life as the appropriate third-strike term. (People v. Dozier, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 1203.)