People v. Hill CA4/3

Filed 9/29/23 P. v. Hill CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G061690

v. (Super. Ct. No. 09CF1955)

CURTIS JAMES HILL, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Michael J. Cassidy, Judge. Affirmed. Jan B. Norman, 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, Lynne G. McGinnis and A. Natasha Cortina, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Convicted of special circumstances felony murder in 2011, Curtis James Hill appeals the denial of his third petition for resentencing under Senate Bill No. 1437. (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015.) That law allows defendants who were convicted of felony murder before 2019 to seek resentencing if 1) they were not the actual killer, 2) they did not aid and abet the actual killer in the commission of first degree murder, and 3) they were not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life. However, in upholding the denial of appellant’s first petition, we ruled he was ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law because the record of conviction shows he was the actual killer. (People v. Hill (June 29, 2022, G060426) [nonpub. opn.] (Hill I).) Appellant challenges that ruling in this appeal, but it is controlling under the law of the case doctrine. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s order denying his current petition for resentencing. BACKGROUND The factual and procedural background are set forth in Hill I, which we incorporate by reference. That opinion reflects appellant was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2011 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Cecil Warren during the commission of a robbery. Although appellant was accompanied by John McKinney during the murder, the record of conviction shows appellant personally punched and kicked Warren in the face when he took his property. The record also shows the jury found appellant’s actions were a substantial factor in Warren’s death, regardless of anything McKinney may have done to Warren during the robbery. Therefore, in Hill I we affirmed the summary denial of appellant’s initial petition for resentencing because he was convicted of murder as the actual killer. (Hill I, supra, G060426, at pp. 6-8.)1