Error and/or relief
The trial court erred in summarily denying the defendant’s Penal Code section 1172.6 petition for resentencing at the prima facie stage.
First Holding:
Effective January 2019, the Legislature amended the law to eliminate liability for murder based on the natural and probable consequences doctrine or theories of imputed malice predicated solely on one’s participation in a crime. As relevant here, section 1172.6 applies to those who pled guilty to manslaughter after being charged with murder and who would have been subject to prosecution for murder under a felony-murder theory, the natural and probable consequences doctrine, or any other theory of imputed malice.
Authority:
PEN 1172.6
People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 959
People v. Gaillard (2024) 99 Cal.App.5th 1206, 121
Second Holding:
A trial court considering a section 1172.6 petition must first determine whether the petitioner made a prima facie showing he or she could not presently be convicted under the amended laws. In doing so, the court accepts the petitioner’s factual allegations as true. The court may deny the petition at the prima facie stage only if the record of conviction—which includes facts admitted in a guilty plea—conclusively establishes that the petitioner is ineligible for relief as a matter of law.
Here, as the People concede, the record did not foreclose the possibility that the defendant was convicted under the invalid natural and probable consequences theory. His admissions and factual basis for the guilty plea were generic and did not establish the specific theory of aiding and abetting under which the defendant admitted guilt. Accordingly, they do not establish that he is ineligible for section 1172.6 relief as a matter of law. He pled that he aided and abetted a murder, but the natural and probable consequences doctrine is one theory of aiding and abetting.
Authority:
People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 971
People v. Gaillard (2024) 99 Cal.App.5th 1206, 1211. 1212
Third Holding:
We review de novo the trial court’s resentencing denial at the prima facie stage.
Authority:
People v. Gaillard (2024) 99 Cal.App.5th 1206, 1211