People v. Rowe CA4/1

Filed 7/25/24 P. v. Rowe CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or or dered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D082958

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCE199406)

ELIJAH WAYNE ROWE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Daniel G. Lamborn, Judge. Affirmed. Lizabeth Weis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. In 2000, a jury found Elijah Wayne Rowe guilty of the first degree murder of Ireneo Soto Aguilar (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count 1) and robbery (§ 211; count 2) and found true an allegation that the murder was committed in the course of the robbery (§ 190.2(a)(17)). Rowe was originally sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the murder and resentenced in 2016 to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life.

In 2022, Rowe petitioned the court for resentencing under former Penal Code section 1170.95 (now section 1172.6). He appeals from the trial court’s order denying this petition. Rowe’s appellate counsel’s brief, ostensibly under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende) and Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders) rather than People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 (Delgadillo), indicates counsel did not identify any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. Counsel asks us to review the record for error as required by Wende. We offered Rowe the opportunity to file a brief under Wende, but he has not done so. Based on our independent review of the record, we find no reasonably arguable appellate issues. We thus affirm. I. A. In April 1999, Soto was found dead in a flood channel with his pockets turned out, his wallet nearby, blood spattered on the walls of the channel, and bloody bricks and rocks—one weighing 43 pounds—near his body. Rowe was charged with robbery and Soto’s murder while engaged in the commission of a robbery. His codefendants—his older brother Michael Rowe and Boby Woodall—pled guilty to first degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, respectively. A jury found Rowe guilty of all charged offenses, and he ultimately was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life. B. Twenty-two years after his conviction, Rowe sought resentencing under section 1172.6. The provision allows anyone convicted of (1) felony murder, (2) murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine, or (3) murder under any other theory where malice is imputed to a person based