Wednesday, October 04, 2017

People v. Cruz (Cal. Ct. App. - Oct. 3, 2017)

"Juan Alexander Cruz, a three strikes offender, was sentenced to 26.5 years to life in state prison. He appeals a postjudgment order denying his petition to recall his sentence pursuant the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (the Act), also known as Proposition 36."

Okay, there are lots of those types of cases.  Twenty-six years is indeed a lot of time.  Let's see what he's in prison for.

"In 2001, appellant was convicted by jury of false imprisonment by violence after he forced his way into a single mother’s (L.S.) home, clutched her two-year-old son, and threatened to rape him. L.S. begged appellant to let the boy go free. Appellant grabbed a kitchen knife, punched L.S. in the head, and tried to stab her in the stomach. He had ready access to other knives as well. Appellant ordered L.S. to her knees, struck her several times with his fists, and forced her to disrobe and lie down. Appellant then ran the kitchen knife between the victim’s legs and asked how she would feel if he put the knife into her. L.S. escaped when appellant was taking off his backpack."

Uh, yeah.  Those are bad facts.  Really bad facts.  He's not getting let out.