People v. Jones CA2/3

Filed 12/29/21 P. v. Jones CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B308232

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA142596-02 v.

OMAR LATEEF JONES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ronald S. Coen, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.

Robert E. Boyce, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Amanda V. Lopez and David E. Madeo, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

Omar Lateef Jones appeals from the trial court’s order summarily denying his petition under Penal Code section 1170.95.1 That statute allows certain defendants convicted of murder under the felony-murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine to petition the court to vacate their convictions and for resentencing. Here, the trial court— without appointing counsel or allowing briefing—found Jones had failed to demonstrate his entitlement to relief. Because we lack an adequate record to determine if the court’s error in not appointing counsel for Jones and entertaining briefing was harmless, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. BACKGROUND To say our record on appeal is sparse is an understatement. The only item in the record that refers to the facts in this case is a 1999 probation officer’s report. According to the report, at about 3:25 a.m. on September 22, 1996, Larry Darnele Logan was driving his car with Aaron Patrick Johnson in the passenger seat. The car stalled at an intersection. Jones drove alongside Logan’s car and stopped. Jones’s passenger John Levae Post said, “What’s up, blood?,” produced a handgun, and fired two shots into Logan’s car. Both Logan and Johnson were killed. In October 1999, a jury found Jones guilty of the first degree murder of both victims. The jury found true an allegation that, in the commission of the crimes, a principal was armed with a firearm. The jury also found true a special circumstance of multiple murder. The trial court sentenced Jones to a term of life without parole plus one year (for the firearm), as well as a term of 25 years to life, plus one year (again, for the firearm),