People v. Thompson CA4/3

Filed 7/31/24 P. v. Thompson CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G062832

v. (Super. Ct. No. C-33433)

MICHAEL THOMPSON, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Lance P. Jensen, Judge. Affirmed. James M. Kehoe, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance by Plaintiff and Respondent.

Michael Thompson appeals the denial of his petition for resentencing following an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6. However, his appointed attorney filed a brief under the procedures described in People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216, declaring he was unable to find any issues to raise on Thompson’s behalf. And having independently reviewed the record, we have not detected any arguable issues either. We therefore affirm the trial court’s denial order. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In December 1973, Thompson and codefendant Robert Sesma were involved with a drug dealing outfit run by codefendant John Solis. Vaudra Nunley was also part of the enterprise, but Solis suspected he intended to kidnap his children. So, he made a deal with Thompson and Sesma to kill Nunley for $5,000. As part of their murder plan, defendants lured Nunley to Solis’ house late one evening. Nunley arrived at the house with a man named Rue Steele. When they entered Solis’ home, Sesma beat Steele to death, and Thompson severely beat Nunley. Defendants then loaded the victims into the trunk of a car and took them to Thompson’s house for burial. However, upon arrival, they discovered Nunley was not dead, so Sesma finished him off with a gunshot to the head. After that, Sesma buried the victims in Thompson’s backyard, and they collected their bounty. Following a joint jury trial, Thompson was convicted of two counts of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Sesma was convicted of first and second degree murder, conspiracy to commit second degree murder and kidnapping. And Solis was convicted of two counts of second degree murder and kidnapping. Their convictions were affirmed on appeal in People v. Solis et al.