People v. Daniels CA2/2

Filed 2/15/23 P. v. Daniels CA2/2 Opinion following transfer from Supreme Court NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B308995

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA347305) v.

BRANDON DANIELS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Craig J. Mitchell, Judge. Reversed.

Jonathan E. Demson, 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.

We affirmed the denial of defendant and appellant Brandon Daniels’s (defendant) petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code former section 1170.95 in People v. Daniels (Dec. 16, 2021, B308995) (nonpub. opn.).1 By order dated November 30, 2022, the California Supreme Court returned this case to this court with directions to vacate our previous decision and to reconsider the cause in light of People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698 (Strong).

BACKGROUND A jury convicted defendant in 2013 of first degree murder and found true the felony-murder special circumstance alleged pursuant to section 190.2, subdivision (a)(17). Defendant was sentenced to prison for life without the possibility of parole, which we affirmed in People v. Daniels (Sept. 29, 2014, B249088) (nonpub. opn.). In 2019, defendant filed a petition for vacatur and resentencing under section 1172.6. After appointing counsel for defendant and considering briefing and counsel’s arguments, the trial court denied the petition at the prima facie stage without an evidentiary hearing. In affirming the denial, we found the trial court could deny a section 1172.6 petition at the initial prima facie review on the ground that the murder conviction with a special circumstance finding pursuant to section 190.2, subdivision (a)(17) made defendant ineligible as a matter of law for resentencing under section 1172.6. (See People v. Daniels, supra, B308995.) We further