People v. Sandoval CA6

Filed 12/27/21 P. v. Sandoval CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H047410 (Santa Clara County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. C1649948)

v.

RANDOLPH SANDOVAL,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted defendant Randy Sandoval of second degree murder and attempting to dissuade a witness. It was undisputed at trial that Sandoval was not the actual killer. He was prosecuted for murder on theories of direct aiding and abetting, conspiracy to commit murder, and natural and probable consequences. After Sandoval’s trial, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.; (Senate Bill 1437)), which amended Penal Code section 188 so as to eliminate natural and probable consequences liability for murder.1 In legislation that will take effect on January 1, 2022, the Legislature further amended the law to allow “[a] person convicted of murder . . . whose conviction is not final [to] challenge on direct appeal the validity of that conviction based on the changes made to [s]ections 188 and 189 by Senate Bill 1437.” (Stats. 2021, ch. 551, §2; Senate Bill No. 775 (Senate Bill 775).) On appeal, Sandoval contends that—given the elimination of natural and probable consequences liability for murder—the trial court erred in instructing the jury on that theory of liability.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

He maintains that instructional error requires reversal of his conviction and remand for retrial. The Attorney General agrees, as do we. Accordingly, we shall reverse the murder conviction. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Summary Sandoval and his girlfriend, Margaret Z., lived in San Jose next door to Roman Alvarado. On October 7, 2016, Sandoval lent his car to his friend Jeffrey Cooper. Cooper was only supposed to be gone an hour, but he still had not returned the car three days later. Sandoval and Margaret contacted Cooper to convince him to return the car without success. Early on the evening of October 10, Alvarado happened to run into Cooper, who was with Sandoval’s car. Alvarado drove the vehicle to Sandoval’s house with Cooper in the passenger seat. Sandoval went outside when Alvarado and Cooper arrived in his car. According to Margaret, who was watching out the window of the home she shared with Sandoval, Sandoval was frustrated and punched or slapped Cooper in the face. Sandoval then took Cooper’s belongings—including a suitcase and a storage bin—out of the car and threw them on the ground. Cooper eventually left in a cab. Records from Yellow Checker Cab Company showed that, on October 10, 2016, a passenger by the name of Jeffrey was picked up by a cab at Sandoval’s address at 6:54 p.m. and was dropped off on Ridder Park Drive at 7:19 p.m. Margaret testified that, after the car was returned, Sandoval took a bag with several bottles of hard alcohol in it over to Alvarado’s backyard shed. At about 8:00 p.m., Sandoval and Alvarado came inside and drank beer in Sandoval’s kitchen. According to Margaret, both men were intoxicated. She further testified that they were “in this rage, all hyped up,” and saying they were going to teach Cooper a lesson. Margaret testified that the two men left the house at about 9:00 p.m. Alvarado told Margaret, “We’re going to take care of him.” They returned at about 10:00 p.m., at