People v. Clayton CA2/1

Filed 4/7/25 P. v. Clayton CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, B340774

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA139632) v.

DEANDRE CARRNELL CLAYTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ricardo R. Ocampo, Judge. Reversed and remanded. Jonathan E. Demson, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill and Thomas C. Hsieh, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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We decide this matter by memorandum disposition. (Cal. Stds. Jud. Admin., § 8.1.) Deandre Carrnell Clayton appeals from the denial of his resentencing petition under Penal Code1 section 1172.6. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse. We begin with the applicable law and then turn to the facts of the case. Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015), which went into effect January 1, 2019, “amended sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code to ‘eliminate[ ] natural and probable consequences liability for murder as it applies to aiding and abetting, and [to] limit[ ] the scope of the felony-murder rule.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Lee (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 1164, 1173 (Lee).) “[T]he amended section 188 provides that, except as stated in the amended section 189 governing felony murder, ‘in order to be convicted of murder, a principal in a crime shall act with malice aforethought. Malice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his or her participation in a crime.’ (§ 188, subd. (a)(3).)” (Lee, supra, at p. 1173.) The bill also added former section 1170.95, now numbered 1172.6, “ ‘which creates a procedure for convicted murderers who could not be convicted under the law as amended to retroactively seek relief.’ [Citation.]” (Lee, supra, 95 Cal.App.5th at p. 1173.) In 2021, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 775 (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2021, ch. 551), which, inter alia, extended relief under former section 1170.95 to those convicted of attempted murder. (See Lee, supra, at pp. 1173–1174.)