People v. Vega CA2/5

Filed 12/8/21 P. v. Vega CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B308245

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA314454-03) v.

CHRISTIAN VEGA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a court order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, County, Michael E. Pastor, Judge. Reversed and remanded. David Y. Stanley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Peggy Z. Huang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________________

Defendant and appellant Christian Vega appeals the trial court’s order denying his petition for resentencing pursuant to Senate Bill No. 1437 (Senate Bill 1437) and Penal Code section 1170.95.1 In 2009, the jury found Vega guilty of first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a) [count 1]), among other crimes, and found true the special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed while Vega was engaged in robbery and attempted burglary (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A) & (G)). Vega was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. After the enactment of Senate Bill 1437, Vega filed a petition for vacatur of the murder conviction and resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95. The trial court appointed counsel and ordered briefing. At a hearing on the matter, the prosecutor conceded that the jury’s special circumstance finding—made before the Supreme Court’s issuance of People v. Banks (2015) 61 Cal.4th 788 (Banks) and People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522 (Clark)— did not render Vega ineligible for resentencing. The trial court found Vega had made a prima facie showing of eligibility under People v. Torres (2020) 46 Cal.App.5th 1168 (Torres), abrogated on another ground in People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952 (Lewis)), and issued an order to show cause. At the hearing following the order to show cause, the trial court reversed its ruling and denied the petition as a matter of law under People v. Galvan (2020) 52 Cal.App.5th 1134, review