Sonora, California –– Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced today that on November 30, 2023, Travis Gredvig was resentenced to 16 years 8 months State Prison for 2 counts of First-Degree Residential Robbery, with personal infliction of great bodily injury on two separate victims and personal use of a knife as a deadly weapon as to each, 3 counts of Grand Theft of a Firearm, and 2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Mr. Gredvig was originally convicted by way of a guilty plea in 2012 to two counts of Attempted Murder, with personal infliction of great bodily injury on two separate victims and personal use of a knife as a deadly weapon at to one charge, 2 counts of Residential Robbery, 3 counts of Grand Theft of a Firearm, and 2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and sentenced to 20 years in State Prison. As to Mr. Gredvig’s convictions for attempted murder, a potential theory of liability that applied to Mr. Gredvig’s case at the time of the plea was the felony-murder rule.
The conviction stems from a home invasion committed by Mr. Gredvig and a coparticipant on August 23, 2011 where they attacked two homeowners, both personally inflicting great bodily injury upon both victims while also using a knife. Mr. Gredvig directly stole the wallet of one of the homeowners from his person by force and fear. The two defendants forcibly took about $1200 in cash as well as 3 firearms. Each of the homeowners sustained life threatening injuries and had to be flown out for necessary lifesaving medical care. At the time of the original sentencing held on April 23, 2012 each of the victims was still battling long term effects from the attack in this case.
In 2015, the California Supreme Court ruled that the original felony-murder rule would be limited to actual killers, those who participated in the underlying felony with the intent to kill, and major participants who acted with a reckless indifference to human life and limited the natural and probable consequences doctrine in the same fashion. In 2021, the California Legislature enacted Penal Code section 1172.95 codifying a mechanism for an inmate serving a state prison term under the old version of the felony-murder to be able to file a petition with the court where he was convicted to request to be resentenced. In 2023, the Legislature enacted 1172.6 renumbering the prior code section and extended that relief to those convicted of attempted murder under the same theories.
Mr. Gredvig filed such a petition with the Court. The People filed a response objecting to his request for resentencing on the basis that the personal infliction of great bodily injury and personal use of a deadly weapon during the commission of the attempted murder should, as a matter of law, disqualify him from such relief because those enhancements prove that he was either a direct perpetrator of the attempted murders or, at the very least, was a major participant who acted with reckless indifference to human life. The Court disagreed with the People and found that Mr. Gredvig met the initial requirements to be eligible for resentencing. The People filed a writ with the Fifth District Court of Appeal requesting that the appellate court intervene. However, the appellate court summarily denied the People’s writ request.
At that point, the People thoroughly reviewed the evidence in the case and made the offer that Mr. Gredvig accepted. This resolution preserved the overall integrity and finality of the conviction, resulted in a sentence nearly the same length as the original, including maintaining two violent felonies in the case which limit the amount of credit he is entitled to in prison, maintained that Mr. Gredvig’s record includes 7 strikes, and saved the community the time and expense of having a trial to relitigate the issue regarding the attempted murder charges. The Court resentenced Mr. Gredvig at the hearing and ordered that Mr. Gredvig be returned to the custody of the California Department of Corrections to serve the balance of his sentence.
For More Information Contact: Samantha Arnerich — Deputy District Attorney, (209) 588-5450
