People v. Foreman CA2/4

Filed 12/5/23 P. v. Foreman CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOUR

THE PEOPLE, B323856 (Los Angeles County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. BA414792)

v.

REECE MATUI FOREMAN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, James R. Dabney, Judge. Affirmed. Corey J. Robins, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Thomas C. Hsieh, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION In 2015, a jury convicted defendant and appellant Reece Matui Foreman (Foreman) of voluntary manslaughter. In 2022, Foreman filed a

petition for recall and resentencing under former Penal Code section 1170.95.1 The trial court denied the petition, concluding Foreman was ineligible for relief as a matter of law. The court found section 1172.6 was inapplicable to Foreman because he was not convicted under any imputed- malice theory. On appeal, Foreman argues the trial court erred in concluding he was ineligible for relief as a matter of law. He asserts that, based on the instructions given at his original trial, the jury could have convicted him under an imputed-malice theory of liability. We disagree with Foreman’s argument and affirm the trial court’s order.

BACKGROUND A jury found Foreman guilty of one count of voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (a))2 and found he personally used a firearm in the commission of the offense (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)). At trial, the jury was not instructed on the natural and probable consequences doctrine, the felony murder rule, or on any other imputed- malice theory of liability. The trial court sentenced Foreman to 32 years and four months in state prison. In 2016, a different panel of this court affirmed the judgment. (People v. Forman3 (Dec. 20, 2016, B266113) [nonpub. opn.].)