People v. Sealie CA2/2

Filed 8/15/24 P. v. Sealie CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B327735

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA034917) v.

AARON IZELL SEALIE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Charlaine F. Olmedo, Judge. Reversed and remanded.

Patricia A. Scott, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Stephanie A. Miyoshi, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

****** Aaron Izell Sealie (defendant) appeals the trial court’s summary denial of his petition for relief under Penal Code section 1172.61 on his three second degree murder convictions. Because the jury was instructed on a now-invalid theory of murder liability and because an error with the jury instructions for the conspiracy to commit murder count means that the jury was not otherwise required to find that defendant acted with the intent to kill, he is not ineligible for relief as a matter of law. We accordingly reverse and remand the matter for an evidentiary hearing as to defendant’s three murder convictions.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. Effective June 30, 2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in text (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10). We therefore refer to the law formerly codified at section 1170.95 as section 1172.6.