People v. Bingley CA2/5

Filed 12/10/21 P. v. Bingley CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B311246

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. BA282901)

CHRISTOPHER BINGLEY,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ronald S. Coen, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions. Jonathan E. Demson, 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, and Amanda V. Lopez and Steven E. Mercer, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

More than a decade ago, Defendant Christopher Bingley (defendant) was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and second degree robbery. More recently, defendant filed a petition seeking vacatur of his manslaughter conviction pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.95.1 The trial court denied the petition, and that was the correct result at the time. But the Legislature since has passed and the Governor has signed Senate Bill No. 775 (2020- 2021 Reg. Sess.) (SB 775), which will take effect on January 1, 2022. SB 775 amends section 1170.95 in various ways, and the most significant for our purposes is an amendment that expressly permits defendants convicted of manslaughter, not just murder, to seek relief. (Stats. 2021, ch. 551, § 2.) The Attorney General concedes the trial court’s order should be reversed and remanded for further proceedings in the trial court after SB 775 takes effect, and that is what we shall do after a short explanation of the facts, procedure, and law. Defendant and two other individuals robbed a video game store in 2004. During the course of the robbery, one of defendant’s accomplices shot and killed a store customer. In lieu of trial, defendant pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and second degree robbery. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and has since been released from custody. In 2020, defendant submitted a petition to the trial court requesting resentencing under section 1170.95. Defendant checked boxes on his petition indicating the charges against him were such that the prosecution could have proceeded under a felony murder theory of liability and defendant pled guilty to manslaughter in lieu of trial where he could have been convicted