People v. Riley CA2/5

Filed 5/26/21 P. v. Riley CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B298450

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA079324) v.

SAID RILEY,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Judith L. Meyer, Judge. Affirmed. Caneel C. Fraser, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Michael R. Johnsen, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Charles S. Lee, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

In 2011, a jury convicted defendant and appellant Said Riley (defendant) on two counts of murder (one first degree murder and the other second degree) and two counts of robbery. The jury found true a multiple murder special circumstance, which resulted in a life without possibility of parole sentence on the first degree murder conviction. After enactment of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437), defendant filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.95.1 We consider whether the trial court correctly concluded the jury did not rely on the felony murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine in convicting defendant—and thus, that defendant was ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law.

I. BACKGROUND Defendant filed a motion in this court asking us to judicially notice the appellate opinion resolving his (and his co- defendant Eddie Betancourt’s) direct appeal: People v. Betancourt et al. (Mar. 11, 2013, B237204) [nonpub. opn.] (Betancourt). We grant the motion and rely on the prior opinion in describing the facts of the murders and in certain aspects of our analysis that follows our summary of the facts. (See generally People v. Lewis (2020) 43 Cal.App.5th 1128, 1137-1139 & fn. 7, review granted Mar. 18, 2020, S260598; People v. Verdugo (2020) 44 Cal.App.5th 320, 335, review granted Mar. 18, 2020, S260493 (Verdugo).) Early on the morning of April 24, 2008, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a 911 call of shots