People v. Thomas CA1/1

Filed 8/28/24 P. v. Thomas CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A167755

v. (San Francisco City & County Super. Ct. No.13024835, RODERICK THOMAS, SCN221214-02) Defendant and Appellant.

At a Penal Code1 section 1172.6 hearing, the trial court sentenced Roderick Thomas to 13 years in prison, which included two years for an enhancement imposed under section 12022, subdivision (d). Thomas argues, and we agree, that the enhancement was unauthorized and not supported by the evidence. We strike the section 12022, subdivision (d) enhancement. In all other respects, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND2 Thomas was involved in a shooting in the home of a neighbor from whom he sometimes bought marijuana. On the evening of the crime, Thomas contacted his neighbor, D’Andre W., to buy a much larger amount of

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 We incorporate by reference our nonpublished opinions in Thomas’s

prior appeals, People v. Thomas (Feb. 29, 2016, A142916) (Thomas I) and People v. Thomas (May 18, 2021, A159153) (Thomas II).

marijuana than usual. D’Andre W. had gone out with some friends and told Thomas to meet him back at his house. Thomas went into the house with two other men, and they rummaged through D’Andre W.’s property. When D’Andre W. returned with his friends, one of the friends, Jahmad Karriem, was fatally shot by an unknown person. One of Thomas’s associates said it was Thomas who shot Karriem. Thomas, on the other hand, claimed he was caught between Karriem and the shooter as shots flew and that the others coerced him into letting them in to D’Andre W.’s house so they could steal from him. A. Thomas Is Prosecuted for Felony Murder and Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter Thomas was convicted by a jury of burglary and felony murder in 2014. In Thomas I, we reversed, holding the trial court prejudicially erred when it failed to instruct the jury on the defense of duress. (Thomas I, supra, A142916.) On remand, the People again charged Thomas with burglary and felony murder. In 2016, he pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter. The trial court sentenced Thomas to 19 years in prison based on the upper term for voluntary manslaughter plus enhancements for a prior felony under section 667, subdivision (a)(1) and for knowledge of an armed principal in the commission of a specified drug offense under section 12022, subdivision (d). The court dismissed the remaining counts and allegations. Thomas petitioned the trial court for resentencing under former section 1170.95, which authorized resentencing of individuals convicted of felony murder or murder under a natural and probable consequences theory. The trial court denied his petition, on the basis that the statute did not apply to a manslaughter conviction. We affirmed. (Thomas II, supra, A159153.)