Filed 7/27/22 P. v. Mejico CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO THE PEOPLE, B311150 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA033116) v. STEVE ERENESTO MEJICO, Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Juan C. Dominguez, Judge. Affirmed. Jennifer Peabody, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Amanda V. Lopez and Stephanie A. Miyoshi, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Defendant and appellant Steve Erenesto Mejico (defendant) appeals from the order denying his petition filed pursuant to Penal Code former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6).1 Defendant contends that the trial court erred by treating the evidentiary hearing held pursuant to former section 1170.95, subdivision (d) as a trial de novo, that the trial court was collaterally estopped from finding that he could be convicted of first degree murder under the law as amended after his conviction of second degree murder, that this court should apply a de novo review to the sufficiency of the evidence, and that substantial evidence did not support the trial court’s finding that he harbored malice. Finding no merit to defendant’s contentions, we affirm the order denying defendant’s petition. BACKGROUND In 1997 defendant and his codefendant Glenn Tracchia, Jr., were each convicted by a jury of the second degree murder of Robert Imperial with true findings that a principal was armed with a firearm and that the murder was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote and assist in criminal conduct by gang members. Defendant was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. We affirmed the judgment in People v. Tracchia (B117379, Oct. 19, 1998) (nonpub. opn.). 1 Effective June 30, 2022, Penal Code section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated. 2 Former section 1170.95 In 2018, the Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017- 2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437), which amended sections 188 and 189, the laws pertaining to felony murder and murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine. “To amend the natural and probable consequences doctrine, Senate Bill 1437 added section 188, subdivision (a)(3) . . . : ‘Except [for felony- murder liability] as stated in subdivision (e) of Section 189, in order to be convicted of murder, a principal in a crime shall act with malice aforethought. …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals