People v. Maggio CA3

Filed 5/20/22 P. v. Maggio CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C093577

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 05F09789)

v.

SALVATORE CARMELO MAGGIO,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Salvatore Carmelo Maggio was found guilty of committing second degree murder in 2005. In 2019, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.951; the trial court denied defendant’s petition. On appeal, defendant contends the trial court improperly made factual determinations at the prima facie stage. Finding defendant ineligible as a matter of law, we affirm.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

BACKGROUND On October 26, 2005, defendant strangled and drowned Aaron Brooks. (People v. Maggio (Feb. 11, 2009, C055680) [nonpub. opn.] (Maggio).)2 Defendant told law enforcement he and Brooks got into a fight, ended up in a creek where defendant was able to push Brooks underwater, and “[w]hen Brooks was lying face down in the water, defendant let him go, realizing he was dead.” (Ibid.) Defendant was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and presented a mental state defense. (Ibid.) The jury convicted defendant of second degree murder (§§ 187, 189) and defendant was sentenced to 15 years to life. (Maggio, supra, C055680.) Defendant appealed arguing the jury was improperly instructed on imperfect self-defense and that he was incompetent to testify on his own behalf; we affirmed his conviction. (Ibid.) On May 13, 2019, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.95. Defendant alleged he was “convicted of 2nd Degree murder pursuant to the Felony Murder Rule” and that he could not now be convicted of second degree murder because of changes made to sections 188 and 189 effective January 1, 2019. The People and defendant’s appointed counsel filed briefing on the petition. On February 2, 2021, the trial court denied defendant’s petition by written order. The trial court noted it had read and considered “the briefings by the parties as well as the probation report, the jury instructions which were provided to the jury, and the unpublished decision of the Appellate Court,” adding “[h]aving presided over this case, I am familiar with its facts.” It then found “[n]either the felony murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine [were] brought in front of the jury. Thus, the