People v. Meza CA4/1

Filed 11/27/24 P. v. Meza CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D082022

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. FWV1102812-1)

HECTOR J. MEZA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County, Jon D. Ferguson, Judge. Affirmed. Eric Multhaup, under the appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Christopher P. Beesley and Michael D. Butera, Deputy Attorneys General for Plaintiff and Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In 2011, Maria B. died after a group of men beat her, doused her with gasoline, and set her body on fire. Defendant Hector J. Meza, Maria’s former boyfriend, was among several individuals found guilty of first degree murder

in her death, as well as other charges. (Pen. Code, §§ 187 and 189.)1 In connection with convicting Meza of first degree murder, the jury found true three special circumstances: (1) that the murder was committed by means of lying in wait (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15)); (2) that the murder was committed while Meza was engaged in the commission of mayhem (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(J)); and (3) that the murder was intentional and involved the infliction of torture (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(18)). He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Following changes to California’s murder statutes in 2018 and 2021, Meza filed a petition for resentencing alleging that he could no longer be convicted of murder due to these statutory changes and requesting relief