People v. Christon CA2/2

Filed 1/28/21 P. v. Christon CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B301998 (Consolidated with B306635) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County v. Super. Ct. No. BA310312)

MAKEITHA KEITH CHRISTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Lisa B. Lench, Judge, and petition for writ of habeas corpus. The order is affirmed; petition denied.

Nancy L. Tetreault, 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, Idan Ivri and Allison H. Chung, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ****** Makeitha Keith Christon (defendant) appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for relief under Penal Code section 1170.95.1 In light of recent decisions issued by this division, we conclude there was no error and affirm the order. Defendant also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus concurrently with this appeal, which we deny without prejudice. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts2 A. The underlying crime In September 2005, defendant noticed that a group of 20 men were playing a game of dice in a residential driveway and saw anywhere from $400 to $2,000 in the “pot.” He walked up, asked if any of the players was “strapped” (that is, armed with a firearm), and the homeowner responded that no one had guns. Defendant walked away, and went to find someone else to help him “hit up the dice game.” Davione McDowell (McDowell) agreed. Defendant gave McDowell a gun and a plastic bag to carry away the money. While defendant was parked around the corner, McDowell approached the game, pulled out his gun, and demanded that the players “[g]ive up the cheese.” When several of them ran, McDowell sprayed bullets at the fleeing men, three