People v. Rocha CA2/5

Filed 4/10/25 P. v. Rocha CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B334356

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA122213) v.

MARTIN ROCHA, JR.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Tammy Chung Ryu, Judge. Reversed and remanded.

Michael Reed, 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, Scott A. Taryle, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Viet H. Nguyen, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

****** Martin Rocha, Jr. (defendant) appeals the trial court’s order denying his petition for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1172.6.2 He contends the trial court engaged in impermissible judicial factfinding by relying on the preliminary hearing transcript to deny defendant’s petition at the prima facie stage. Although the court properly relied on the preliminary hearing transcript, the transcript itself does not conclusively establish that defendant was the actual killer and hence not entitled to relief under section 1172.6 as a matter of law. We accordingly reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts3 A. The underlying crime In late August 2011, Lorenzo Terrazas (Terrazas) was at a

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.