People v. Alarcon CA4/1

A model's reading — qwen3.8-27b, prompt v1, 2026-10-13T03:25Z · confidence high

The trial court declined to exercise its discretion to recall and resentence the defendant under Penal Code section 1172.1. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that a defendant has no substantial right to such relief and thus the order is not appealable.

Ruling reviewed	Standard	The court	The model
Trial court's order declining to take further action on defendant's request for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.1 “We join other courts that have concluded “defendants do not have a substantial right at stake when they request recall and resentencing” under section 1172.1, so a trial court’s decision to not take action on the request is unappealable.”	unclear	not reached	agree with court The appellate court determined it lacked jurisdiction to review the merits because the order was not appealable under Penal Code section 1237(b).

Authorities

• relied: People v. Loper (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1155 — The right to appeal is statutory only, and a party cannot appeal an order unless expressly made appealable by statute.
• relied: People v. Brinson (2025) 112 Cal.App.5th 1040 — Defendants do not have a substantial right at stake when they request recall and resentencing under section 1172.1, making the trial court's decision to not act unappealable.
• relied: People v. Faustinos (2025) 109 Cal.App.5th 687 — An order acting on a defendant's section 1172.1 request does not affect the defendant's substantial rights.
• relied: People v. Roy (2025) 110 Cal.App.5th 991 — Distinguishes People v. Loper and People v. Carmony in the context of section 1172.1 appeals.
• relied: People v. Carmony (2004) 33 Cal.4th 367 — Cited by the defendant but distinguished by the court as inapplicable to section 1172.1 requests.

The appellate opinion: sound — The opinion correctly applies the statutory requirement that appeals must be expressly authorized and relies on recent, consistent case law establishing that section 1172.1 requests do not implicate substantial rights. It effectively addresses the defendant's argument regarding the procedural steps taken by the trial court by noting that the nature of the order, not the process, determines appealability.

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A model's reading — claude-fable-5-1, prompt v1, 2026-10-13T04:29Z · confidence low

The trial court, after appointing counsel, receiving briefs, and hearing from Alarcon and his supporters, declined to take further action on Alarcon's request for recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.1. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that an order declining to act on a defendant's own section 1172.1 request does not affect the defendant's substantial rights and so is not appealable under section 1237, subdivision (b).

Ruling reviewed	Standard	The court	The model
Trial court's decision not to take further action on, and not to exercise its discretion to recall, Alarcon's request for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.1 “No matter how it is styled, an order acting on a defendant’s section 1172.1 request does not affect the defendant’s substantial rights.”	de novo	not reached	agree with court The opinion does not expressly state a standard, but appealability is a jurisdictional question of law it resolved by reading section 1237(b) and section 1172.1(c) with published authority. Section 1172.1(c) states a defendant is not entitled to seek relief and the court is not required to respond, which supports the conclusion that no substantial right is affected; the court properly relied on Brinson, Roy, and Faustinos, correctly refused to consider the depublished Chatman opinion under rule 8.1115, and reasonably rejected the argument that the trial court's procedural steps (appointing counsel, taking briefs and statements) converted a non-appealable refusal into an appealable merits denial. The merits of the resentencing request were never reached.

Authorities

• relied: People v. Loper (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1155 — The right to appeal is statutory only; a party cannot appeal an order unless a statute expressly makes it appealable, and a postjudgment order is appealable under section 1237(b) only if it affects the defendant's substantial rights.
• relied: People v. Brinson (2025) 112 Cal.App.5th 1040 — Defendants have no substantial right at stake when they request recall and resentencing under section 1172.1, so a trial court's decision not to act on such a request is not appealable.
• relied: People v. Roy (2025) 110 Cal.App.5th 991 — Loper and Carmony are distinguishable and do not make a trial court's refusal to act on a defendant-initiated section 1172.1 request appealable.
• relied: People v. Faustinos (2025) 109 Cal.App.5th 687 — However styled, an order acting on a defendant's section 1172.1 request does not affect the defendant's substantial rights and is not appealable.
• relied: People v. Carmony (2004) 33 Cal.4th 367 — Cited by appellant regarding review of discretionary sentencing decisions; the court found it distinguishable on the appealability question for the reasons stated in Roy.
• relied: People v. Garcia (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 847 — Appellate courts may resolve straightforward matters by memorandum opinion.

The appellate opinion: sound — The court answered the only disputed question—appealability—with the governing statutes and current published authority (Loper, Brinson, Roy, Faustinos), and correctly declined to consider a depublished opinion. It addressed appellant's argument that the trial court's procedural steps transformed the ruling into a merits denial, and its dismissal follows from the statutory text of section 1172.1(c).

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