People v. Hill CA1/5

Filed 5/9/23 P. v. Hill CA1/5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for pur- poses of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. A165481 TION ALONZO GRIMMETT HILL, SR., (Solano County Super. Ct. No. Defendant and Appellant. VCR210051)

Tion Alonzo Grimmett Hill, Sr. appeals from the order denying his most recent motion for reconsideration, which was filed about three years after the trial court denied his initial petition for resentencing, pursuant to Penal Code, former § 1170.95.1 We conclude the challenged order is not appealable and dismiss Hill’s appeal.

BACKGROUND

A.

Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.), which became effective January 1, 2019, raised the level of culpability required for murder liability to be imposed under felony murder and the

All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal 1

Code. As of June 30, 2022, former section 1170.95 was renumbered to section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) We hereafter refer to current code section 1172.6. 1

natural and probable consequences theories. (See Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, §§ 1-2.) Senate Bill 1437 amended the definition of malice in section 188 to provide that “[m]alice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his or her participation in a crime.” (§ 188, subd. (a)(3); Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 2.)

As a result of these amendments and later Senate Bill No. 775 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2021, ch. 551 § 2, eff. January 1, 2022), a person convicted of murder is now eligible for resentencing if they were convicted “of felony murder or murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine or other theory under which malice is imputed to a person based solely on that person’s participation in a crime.” (§ 1172.6, subd. (a).) However, a person who was the “actual killer” remains ineligible for resentencing. (§§ 188, subd. (a)(3), 189, subd. (e)(1), 1172.6, subd. (a)(3); People v. Garrison (2021) 73 Cal.App.5th 735, 742, 744.)