People v. Thomas CA4/1

Filed 12/8/20 P. v. Thomas CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D077117

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. CRN6769)

PAUL THOMAS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Harry M. Elias, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions. Heather L. Beugen, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Eric A. Swenson and Heather M. Clark, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

In this case, appellant Paul Thomas filed a petition under Penal Code1 section 1170.95 for resentencing of his 1981 murder conviction. The trial court summarily denied the petition without appointment of counsel and without permitting briefing. Thomas contends and the Attorney General agrees, the petition sufficiently alleged a prima facie case for relief that at least required the appointment of counsel and briefing by the parties. We agree the trial court failed to comply with the procedural steps required by the statute. Thus, we will reverse the order summarily denying the petition and remand the case to the trial court with directions to appoint counsel, permit the parties to brief the issues, and to take such further proceedings as

may be appropriate.2 FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A jury convicted Thomas and his co-defendant of robbery and first degree murder in 1981. Thomas was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life for the murder plus one year for the use of a firearm. This court affirmed the conviction in an unpublished opinion. (People v. George Albert Fredericks and Paul Francis Thomas II (Aug.13, 1983, 4 Crim. No. 13574 [nonpub. opn.] (Thomas).) In our opinion we summarized the facts as follows: “In December 1980, Fredericks owed $3,000 to Lou Roper, his drug supplier. He repaid about $1,500, borrowed from his next door neighbor Michael Johnson in mid-December. When Fredericks paid this amount,