People v. Lynch

Summary

The court held that the 2022 amendments to California’s determinate-sentencing law apply to nonfinal cases and require appellate review under the Chapman harmless-error standard when a defendant was sentenced under the former law. Reversal is required unless the reviewing court can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a jury would have found true every aggravating fact relied on to impose the upper term, or that those facts were otherwise established in compliance with the current statute. The court also held that resentencing is required unless the record clearly indicates that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence under its narrower discretion. The judgment affirming Lynch’s sentence was reversed and the matter was remanded for resentencing.