People v. Vega CA2/1

Filed 7/15/22 P. v. Vega CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b.) This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, B316987

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA051544) v.

ANGEL LOUIS VEGA, JR.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Jared D. Moses, Judge. Affirmed. Deborah L. Hawkins, 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, Idan Ivri and Peggy Z. Huang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

In 2003, a jury convicted defendant and appellant Angel Louis Vega, Jr. of second degree murder and further found that in committing the offense, Vega personally used a deadly weapon. In 2021, Vega petitioned the trial court for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1170.95 (now section 1172.6). The trial court denied Vega’s petition because Vega was the actual killer and the case did not involve a theory of imputed malice. We affirm the trial court’s order denying Vega’s resentencing petition. As a matter of law, the record of conviction reveals that Vega is ineligible for resentencing because he was not convicted of murder based on felony murder, the natural and probable consequences doctrine, or any other theory under which malice was imputed to him based solely on his participation in a crime. (§ 1172.6, subd. (a)(1).) Although the trial court erred in not appointing counsel for Vega, the error was harmless because Vega is ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law.