People v. Sheppard CA5

California Court of Appeal Dec 12, 2025 No. F088355Unpublished

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Holding. The court held that it lacks jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a trial court's denial of a request for recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.1, as the statute does not grant defendants the right to file such petitions or appeal their denial.

Issues

Whether a defendant has a statutory right to appeal a trial court's denial of a request for recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.1.

Disposition. dismissed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“A defendant is not entitled to file a petition seeking relief from the court under this section.”

“defendant has no right to appeal from the trial court’s order and the appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”

Filed 12/12/25 P. v. Sheppard CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F088355 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. SC027664A) v.

MELISSA ANN SHEPPARD, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. David E. Wolf, Judge. Roberta Simon, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Kimberley A. Donohue, Assistant Attorney General, Amanda D. Cary, Kari Mueller and William K. Kim, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Franson, Acting P. J., Snauffer, J. and De Santos, J.

INTRODUCTION In 1985, a jury convicted defendant Melissa Ann Sheppard of first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187), with the special circumstances the murder was committed during the commission or attempted commission of a robbery and burglary (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(i), (a)(17)(vii)), and involved the infliction of torture (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(18)). (People v. Sheppard (Dec. 4, 1987, F006780 [nonpub. opn.] (Sheppard I).) Defendant was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. In 2024, defendant filed a request for recall and resentencing pursuant to Assembly Bill No. 600 (2023-2024 Reg. Sess.) (Assem. Bill No. 600) and section 1172.1. The trial court summarily denied the request for relief. On appeal, defendant contends her “case must be remanded for resentencing because the trial court erred in denying her ... section 1172.1 petition in violation of due process of law.” (Boldface and capitalization omitted.) For the reasons stated below, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.2 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND3 In Sheppard II, we previously summarized the facts as follows from our prior opinion in Sheppard I:

“On June 4, 1984, Rebecca F.[4] was the residential property manager of an apartment building where [defendant] was staying with friends. That morning, while in Rebecca’s apartment, [defendant] saw

1 All further references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated. 2 Defendant also has a pending appeal in case No. F089016. On May 6, 2025, she made a motion to consolidate her two appeals into one appeal. However, on May 15, 2025, this court denied her request for consolidation. 3 On December 16, 2024, this court, at the request of defendant, took judicial notice of this court’s prior opinion in People v. Sheppard (Feb. 4, 2022, F081553 [nonpub. opn.]) (Sheppard II). 4 Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.90, we refer to some persons by their first names. No disrespect is intended.

People v. Sheppard CA5

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