California Court of Appeal Jul 14, 2023 No. E079659Unpublished
Filed 7/14/23 P. v. Doster CA4/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
THE PEOPLE,
Plaintiff and Respondent, E079659
v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF125774)
DAMIEN TEVES DOSTER, OPINION
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. John D. Molloy, Judge.
Affirmed.
Barbara A. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and
Appellant.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney
General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, and Steve Oetting and Anthony
Da Silva, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
1
Defendant and appellant, Damien Teves Doster, filed a petition for resentencing
pursuant to Penal Code former section 1170.95,1 which the superior court denied. On
appeal, defendant contends the court erred in denying his petition. We affirm.
Defendant “drove to the In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Moreno Valley on
September 3, 2005, with his friends Shariff Garrett and Rasheed Muslim. They arrived at
the parking lot of the restaurant and parked near a large crowd that was assembled.
Garrett, Muslim, and defendant exited the car, and Garrett got into a verbal altercation
with someone in the crowd. As Garrett walked back to his car, presumably to get a gun
that was secreted in the center console of his car, a man emerged from the crowd and shot
him in the back of the head. Defendant armed himself with a gun and hid in the bushes.
At the same time, Garrett’s friend, Damon Mabins, and another man, Melvin Banks,
drove by and recognized Garrett’s truck. When Mabins and Banks approached Garrett’s
body, defendant came out of the bushes and shot Mabins five or six times in the torso.
Defendant discarded the weapon. Defendant ran to a nearby gas station where he
encountered the police and told them he had no involvement in the shooting. Garrett and
Mabins were pronounced dead at the scene.” (Doster, supra, E042716.)
1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 2022, Assembly Bill No. 200 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) amended and renumbered section 1170.95 as section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.)
2 By order dated March 13, 2023, we granted respondent’s request to take judicial notice of the record from defendant’s appeal from the judgment to which defendant filed a letter of non-opposition. (People v. Doster (Nov. 10, 2008, E042716) [nonpub. opn.] (Doster).) We derive our factual recitation from Doster.
2
On December 19, 2006, a jury convicted defendant of the second degree murder of
Mabins (§ 187, subd. (a), count 1) and of being a felon in possession of a firearm
(§ 12021, subd. (a), count 3).3 The jury additionally found true an allegation defendant
intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury in his commission of the
count 1 offense (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). Defendant later admitted that he had served a
prior prison term. (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The court sentenced defendant to an
indeterminate term of imprisonment of 40 years to life, plus a determinate term of three
years.
Defendant appealed. This court affirmed the judgment.
On July 18, 2022, defendant filed a form petition for resentencing pursuant to
former section 1170.95. At a hearing on August 19, 2022, the People requested the court
deny the petition: “The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder with a
personal discharge of a firearm and felon in possession. I sent [defense counsel] the
opinion and the instruction request sheet. Neither side requested aiding and abetting,
natural and probable consequences or murder instruction. The defendant acted alone.”
The People recited the facts as recounted in this court’s opinion in Doster, supra,
E042716. The People then argued defendant was not entitled to relief because he was the
actual killer and the court had not instructed the jury with any theory of imputed malice.
Defense counsel responded, “I have confirmed everything that [the People] just
recited. I submit.” The court denied the petition.
3 The jury found defendant not guilty of the attempted murder of Banks.
3
II. DISCUSSION
Defendant contends the court erred in summarily denying his petition by relying
on the facts from this court’s opinion, and purported jury instructions which were never
introduced into evidence. Defendant contends defense counsel below engaged in per se
ineffective assistance of counsel by confirming the People’s recitation of the facts. The
People respond, in reliance on the judicially noticed record, that any error harmless. We
agree with the People.
“Senate Bill 1437 [(2017-2018 Reg. Sess.)] significantly limited the scope of the
felony-murder rule to effectuate the Legislature’s declared intent ‘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.’ ” (People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698, 707-708.)
“Senate Bill 1437 also created a special procedural mechanism for those convicted under
the former law to seek retroactive relief under the law as amended. [Citations.] Under
newly enacted section 1172.6, the process begins with the filing of a petition containing a
declaration that all requirements for eligibility are met [citation], including that ‘[t]he
petitioner could not presently be convicted of murder or attempted murder because of
changes to . . . Section 188 or 189 made effective January 1, 2019,’ the effective date of
Senate Bill 1437 [citation].” (Id. at p. 708, fn. omitted.)
“While the trial court may look at the record of conviction after the appointment of
counsel to determine whether a petitioner has made a prima facie case for . . . relief, the
4
prima facie inquiry . . . is limited. Like the analogous prima facie inquiry in habeas
corpus proceedings, ‘ “the court takes petitioner’s factual allegations as true and makes a
preliminary assessment regarding whether the petitioner would be entitled to relief if his
or her factual allegations were proved. If so, the court must issue an order to show
cause.” ’ [Citation.] ‘[A] court should not reject the petitioner’s factual allegations on
credibility grounds without first conducting an evidentiary hearing.’ ” (People v. Lewis
(2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 971.) “In reviewing any part of the record of conviction at this
preliminary juncture, a trial court should not engage in ‘factfinding involving the
weighing of evidence or the exercise of discretion.’ ” (Id. at p. 972.) “[T]he ‘prima facie
bar was intentionally and correctly set very low.’ ” (Ibid.) Assembly Bill No. 200
“limited use of prior appellate opinions, allowing trial judges to ‘consider [only] the
procedural history of the case recited.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Clements (2022) 75
Cal.App.5th 276, 292; accord People v. Flores (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 974, 988.)
Where the record of conviction reflects that the defendant was not convicted under
any theory of imputed malice, no evidentiary hearing is required. (People v. Patton
(2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 649, 657 [“As the sole and actual perpetrator of the attempted
murder of” the victim, a defendant “is ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law.”];
People v. Soto (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 1043, 1055, review dismissed Nov. 17, 2021,
S263939 [“[T]he jury instructions themselves demonstrate[d] as a matter of law that [the
defendant] could not make a prima facie showing that he is entitled to relief.”]; People v.
“ ‘ “To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that
(1) counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under
prevailing professional norms, and (2) counsel’s deficient performance was prejudicial,
i.e., there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s failings, the result would have
been more favorable to the defendant. [Citation.] ‘A reasonable probability is a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.’ [Citation.]” ’
[Citation.]” (People v. Rices (2017) 4 Cal.5th 49, 80.) Assuming arguendo, that defense
counsel’s statements were objectively unreasonable, defendant cannot show prejudice
7
because, as discussed ante, defendant was per se ineligible for relief. Thus, defense
counsel was not prejudicially ineffective.
III. DISPOSITION
The order denying defendant’s petition is affirmed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
McKINSTER Acting P. J. We concur:
MILLER J.
CODRINGTON J.
8
AI Brief
AI-generated · verify before citing
Holding. The court held that the defendant was ineligible for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6 as a matter of law because the jury was not instructed on any theory of imputed malice, rendering any procedural error in the trial court's denial of the petition harmless.
Issues
Whether the trial court erred in denying the defendant's petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6.
Whether the defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel during the resentencing proceedings.
Disposition. Affirmed.
Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion
“The court gave no instructions on felony murder, the natural and probable consequences doctrine, aiding and abetting, or any other theory in which malice could have been imputed to defendant based on his participation in another crime.”
“Thus, defendant was per se ineligible for relief.”