The Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in several ways in imposing appellant’s sentence. First, the Court held that the Three Strikes Law excludes LWOP sentences from being doubled or tripled. (See People v. Smithson (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 480, 503; People v. Coyle (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 209, 219; People v. Mason (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 355, 368-369 [all holding that the Three Strikes Law permits doubling (§ 667, subd. (e)(1)) or tripling (§ 667, subd. (e)(2)) only of the determinate term or minimum term for an indeterminate term.) Second, the Court struck two (of four) prior prison term enhancements, finding that prior convictions cannot serve as the basis for both a five-year prior serious felony enhancement (§ 667, subd. (a)) and a three-year prior prison term enhancement (§ 667.5, subd. (a)). Third, the Court held that the trial court erred by imposing a minimum parole eligibility term (and tripling it) because appellant was sentence to life without parole. Finally, upon remand, the Court held that the trial court should consider whether to exercise its discretion to strike the firearm enhancement.
^