People v. Bunton CA2/2

Filed 5/1/23 P. v. Bunton CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B320830

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. A953199) v.

RONNIE LOVELLE BUNTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT:

Defendant Ronnie Lovelle Bunton appeals from the trial court’s order denying his postjudgment petition for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1172.6.2 Having found no error, we affirm the court’s order. BACKGROUND On March 14, 1989, a jury convicted Bunton of first degree murder, residential burglary and robbery. The jury found true the

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Bunton petitioned the court pursuant to section 1170.95. Effective June 30, 2022, that section was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in the text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.)

allegation Bunton personally used a knife during the commission of the murder and the special circumstances that he committed the murder during the commission of residential burglary and robbery. (People v. Bunton (Jan. 6, 1992, B041809) [nonpub. opn].) Bunton was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. (Ibid.) The victim, Dr. Audry Derrick, was a Presbyterian minister and Bunton’s neighbor. She was overheard complaining about Bunton’s repeated requests for money, all of which she rejected. Bunton’s fingerprints were recovered from inside Derrick’s ransacked home. Items of value belonging to Derrick were found in Bunton’s home. (People v. Bunton, supra, B041809.) Bunton appealed from the judgment. We rejected Bunton’s claims of instructional, evidentiary, and sentencing errors and affirmed the judgment. (People v. Bunton, supra, B041809.) After Bunton’s conviction, the Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437), amending sections 188 and 189, the laws pertaining to felony murder and murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine, “to ensure that murder liability is not imposed on a person who is not the actual killer, did not act with the intent to kill, or was not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life.” (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 1, subd. (f).) The Legislature also added what is now section 1172.6, which provides a procedure for those convicted of murder to seek retroactive relief if they could not now be convicted under the amended laws. (People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 957.) Bunton filed a section 1172.6 petition on July 30, 2021, alleging that he had been convicted of murder under the felony-murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, and that he was not the actual killer or aided and abetted with the intent to kill. Bunton was represented by private counsel. The prosecutor filed opposition and attached copies of this court’s 1992 opinion, the jury instructions, and the verdict forms. The trial court reviewed the documents submitted by the parties and issued a tentative ruling denying the petition on April 4, 2022. The