People v. Peterson CA3

Filed 10/6/22 P. v. Peterson CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Shasta) ----

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C094574

v. (Super. Ct. No. 05F8876)

JOANNA LORRAINE PETERSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Joanna Lorraine Peterson, serving 17 years to life after pleading guilty to second degree murder and robbery, appeals from the trial court’s denial of her petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.95,1 which as of June 30, 2022, was recodified without substantive change as section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) The parties agree the trial court should not have engaged in factfinding before issuing an order to show cause. We will reverse the trial court’s denial of the petition for resentencing and remand the matter for further proceedings. BACKGROUND We granted defendant’s motion to incorporate the record and opinion from the direct appeal of her conviction (People v. Peterson (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 1072 (Peterson)), which sets forth a detailed recitation of the underlying facts.

1 Undesignated statutory section references are to the Penal Code.

1

Jeanette Mariedth was murdered in 2005. (Peterson, supra, 211 Cal.App.4th at p. 1074.) Defendant and her codefendant, Scott Varner, were charged with premeditated murder, second degree robbery, kidnapping for robbery, kidnapping for carjacking, and carjacking. (Ibid.) The information also alleged the special circumstances that the murder was committed in the course of those additional offenses. (Ibid.) In 2008, defendant pleaded guilty to second degree murder and agreed to testify against Varner in exchange for a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. (Peterson, supra, 211 Cal.App.4th at p. 1075.) According to defendant, while Mariedth was giving them a ride in her car, Varner threatened Mariedth with a knife and demanded money. (Id. at pp. 1077-1078.) Defendant said that when Varner told her they had to kill Mariedth, defendant refused to participate. (Id. at p. 1078.) Varner beat and strangled Mariedth while defendant was supposedly curled up in the backseat. (Ibid.) Defendant said Varner then forced her at knifepoint to help him remove Mariedth’s body from the car. (Ibid.) Defendant denied wearing gloves found in the backseat and changing her pants after the murder. (Id. at p. 1086.) She took the plea deal because she was told she faced harsher punishment under a felony-murder theory. (Id. at p. 1079.) Following Varner’s trial, the trial court vacated defendant’s plea, finding that she was dishonest during the trial regarding her role in the killing, as there was evidence she was more deeply involved. (Peterson, supra, 211 Cal.App.4th at p. 1082) The trial court said there was evidence that defendant (1) falsely denied wearing the white gloves found in Mariedth’s car even though her DNA was inside them; (2) was not credible concerning her prior relationship with Mariedth and that they may have selected Mariedth as a victim based on her prior relationship; (3) lied about which pants she was wearing at the time of the homicide until she learned there was no DNA evidence on the pants linking her to the homicide; (4) lied repeatedly to the police; and (5) was evasive and inconsistent about her prior drug history. (Id. at 1082-1083) In 2011, defendant pleaded guilty to second