People v. Howard CA2/1

Filed 12/24/20 P. v. Howard CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B303537

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. A650427) v.

KEISHUN VERNILL HOWARD,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Pat Connolly, Judge. Appeal dismissed. Richard B. Lennon, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________________

In 1989, a jury found Defendant Keishun Vernill Howard (Howard) guilty of second degree murder under Penal Code1 section 187 for the 1988 killing of Cardaos White (White), and found true the allegation under section 12022.5 that Howard personally used a firearm in the commission of the crime. (People v. Howard (Aug. 3, 2020, B302852) [nonpub. opn.] (Howard II).)2 The trial court sentenced Howard to a prison term of 15 years to life, plus two years in prison for the section 12022.5 enhancement. (Howard II, supra, B302852.) On September 25, 1991, our division affirmed the judgment of conviction in an unpublished opinion. (People v. Howard (Sept. 25, 1991, B046938) [nonpub. opn.] (Howard I).) On May 23, 2019, Howard filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.95.3 (See Howard II, supra, B302852.) On August 22, 2019, Howard filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that Proposition 57 and Senate Bill No. 1391

1 Undesignated statutory citations are to the Penal Code. 2 We, sua sponte, take judicial notice of the two prior appellate opinions issued in Howard’s criminal case, along with his notice of appeal from Howard II. (Evid. Code, §§ 452, subd. (d), 459.) We previously took judicial notice of the October 18, 2019 order discussed herein. 3 “[S]ection 1170.95 . . . established a procedure for vacating murder convictions for defendants who would no longer be guilty of murder under [a] new law” that “abolished the natural and probable consequences doctrine in cases of murder, and limited the application of the felony murder doctrine.” (See People v. Galvan (2020) 52 Cal.App.5th 1134, 1139, review granted Oct. 14, 2020, S264284.)