People v. West CA1/3

Filed 7/5/23 P. v. West CA1/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A165334 v. MACK ARTHUR WEST, (Solano County Super. Ct. No. FC177201) Defendant and Appellant.

In 2006, Mack West was convicted of murder and robbery and was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. The present appeal is from an order denying West’s petition to vacate his murder conviction and resentence him for his robbery conviction. (Pen. Code, § 1172.6.)1 West contends that the trial court erred by finding West failed to set forth a prima facie case for relief. We review de novo a trial court’s finding that a petitioner failed to make a prima facie showing under section 1172.6. (See People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 961 (Lewis).) We do not find, on this record, that West has made a prima facie case but nevertheless reverse the order denying his

All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless 1

otherwise specified. West filed his petition under former section 1170.95, which was subsequently amended effective January 1, 2022, in order “to clarify certain aspects of the law.” (People v. Guiffreda (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 112, 123.) Effective June 30, 2022, former section 1170.95 was amended again and renumbered as section 1172.6 without any substantive change. (People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216, 223, fn. 3.) 1

petition because the trial court erred by failing to provide a statement “fully setting forth its reasons” for denying West’s petition without first conducting an evidentiary hearing. (§ 1172.6, subd. (c) (§ 1172.6(c)).) BACKGROUND I. West’s Murder Conviction In July 2000, West was charged by amended information with committing four felonies during three separate incidents in April 1999: an April 19 murder of Kathleen O’Brien (§ 187, subd. (a), count 1); an April 16 second degree robbery of T.A. and Shell Foodmart (§ 211, count 2); an April 16 assault with a deadly weapon of T.A. (§ 245, subd. (a)(1), count 3); and an April 18 unlawful taking of a vehicle from D.B. (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a), count 4). For the murder and assault charges, the People alleged sentence enhancements for personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon, a screwdriver. (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1).) Initially, West pled not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges, but subsequently he changed his plea pursuant to a negotiated disposition. In November 2006, West pled no contest to the second degree murder of Kathleen O’Brien and admitted the enhancement allegation attached to the murder charge for using a screwdriver as a deadly weapon. West also pled no contest to second degree robbery. The remaining charges were dismissed. On November 27, 2006, West was sentenced to an aggregate term of 16 years to life in prison. Between 2008 and 2016, West filed an appeal and several pro per habeas corpus petitions related to his murder conviction.2 A different panel