People v. Ayala CA2/2

Filed 12/17/20 P. v. Ayala CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B302166

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. A788294-01) v.

JOEL JOE AYALA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, William C. Ryan, Judge. Affirmed.

Randall Conner, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Paul M. Roadarmel, Jr. and Allison H. Chung, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

****** Joel Ayala (defendant) sought a youth offender parole hearing pursuant to Penal Code section 30511 for which he is statutorily ineligible, and the trial court denied his request. On appeal, he asserts for the first time that section 3051 violates equal protection in two different ways. We conclude it does not, and affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts In July 1986, defendant and a second man attempted to carjack a black truck and, when the truck’s owner did not comply, the defendant shot the owner once and the second man shot him twice. The owner died. Defendant was 18 years old at the time. II. Procedural Background A. Prosecution, conviction and sentence The People charged defendant with murder (§ 187, subd. (a)), and further alleged the special circumstance that the murder was committed while defendant was engaged in a robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) and that defendant had personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5). The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder, and found both of the further allegations to be true. In light of the special circumstance finding, the trial court sentenced defendant to prison for life without the possibility of parole. B. Current petitions In April 2019, defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking a youth offender parole hearing pursuant to