People v. Serrato CA2/7

Filed 1/5/21 P. v. Serrato CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, B305470

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA008060) v.

MARIA ELENA SERRATO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Stanley Blumenfeld, Judge. Affirmed. John Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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INTRODUCTION

Maria Elena Serrato appeals from an order summarily denying her petition under Penal Code section 1170.95.1 We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 1989 Serrato had an affair with a female coworker. The woman’s husband found out about the affair and confronted Serrato. Serrato subsequently drove to the husband’s house with two men who shot and killed the husband. A jury convicted Serrato of first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and found true the allegation a principal was armed with a firearm (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)). The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation the murder was committed by means of lying in wait (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15)). The trial court sentenced Serrato to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole. In 1994 we affirmed. (People v. Serrato (Oct. 25, 1994, B075855) [nonpub. opn.].) On December 5, 2019 Serrato, representing herself, filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.95 and asked the court to appoint counsel to represent her. In her petition, Serrato alleged she “could not now be convicted of 1st or 2nd degree murder because of changes made to Penal Code §§ 188 and 189, effective January 1, 2019”; she “was not the actual killer”; she “did not, with the intent to kill, aid, abet, counsel, command, induce, solicit, request, or assist the actual killer in the commission of murder in the first degree”; and she “was not a