People v. Serpa CA2/2

Filed 11/17/23 P. v. Serpa CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B329545

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. A093412) v.

ALLAN EDMOND SERPA,

Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT:

Allan Edmond Serpa (defendant) appeals from the order of the trial court denying his second petition for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1172.6 (former section 1170.95).2

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

Defendant’s attorney filed a brief raising no issues and asked this court to independently review the record. Defendant submitted a supplemental brief on his own behalf. Under the standard articulated in People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 (Delgadillo), we decline counsel’s invitation to undertake an independent review of the record. Instead, we evaluate the arguments defendant raises in his letter brief. (Delgadillo, supra, at pp. 231-232.) Finding none of his arguments meritorious, we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 3 I. Facts A. The underlying crime One morning in the summer of 1985, a concerned neighbor checked on Jean Wildish at her apartment in Santa Monica and found Wildish’s body in the apartment’s bedroom. Wildish was naked from the waist down and was positioned with her knees on the floor and her head on the bed. There was blood all over the floor. An autopsy confirmed that Wildish had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. Defendant and a friend had planned to rob Wildish’s apartment, but when she awoke, either defendant or his friend hit Wildish over the head with a hammer.