People v. Christon CA2/2

Filed 11/18/22 P. v. Christon CA2/2 Opinion following transfer from Supreme Court NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B301998 (Consolidated with B306635) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County v. Super. Ct. No. BA310312)

MAKEITHA KEITH OPINION ON REMAND CHRISTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Lisa B. Lench, Judge, and petition for writ of habeas corpus. Reversed and remanded.

Nancy L. Tetreault, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Xavier Becerra and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri, Allison H. Chung, and Charles S. Lee, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ****** Makeitha Keith Christon (defendant) appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for relief under Penal Code1 section 1172.6 (former section 1170.95).2 We previously affirmed the court’s order in an unpublished opinion, People v. Christon (Jan. 28, 2021, B301998), concluding that the record established defendant was ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law based on the true finding on the special circumstance allegation by the jury at trial. Upon review, the California Supreme Court transferred this case back to us to reconsider in light of People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698 (Strong). We now reverse the court’s order and remand the matter for the court to conduct an evidentiary hearing under section 1172.6.

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