People v. Rojas CA2/3

Filed 6/20/24 P. v. Rojas CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B326045

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA123646) v.

HERMENEGILDO ROJAS, Jr., et al.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEALS from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Eleanor J. Hunter, Judge. Reversed with directions. Law Offices of Allen G. Weinberg, Derek K. Kowata, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Joseph Hodge. Emry J. Allen, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Hermenegildo Rojas, Jr. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant

Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Nikhil Cooper, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________ In 2014, Hermenegildo Rojas, Jr., and Joseph Hodge (collectively, defendants) pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. In 2022, they petitioned for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6,1 which limits accomplice liability for murder. The trial court found that neither defendant established a prima facie case for relief and denied the petitions. On appeal, they contend that they established a prima facie case, and therefore the trial court should have issued an order to show cause and held an evidentiary hearing. The People concede, and we agree Rojas and Hodge established a prima facie case for relief under section 1172.6. BACKGROUND Rojas, Hodge, Matthew Fernandez, and Rigoberto Haro belonged to the same gang. Gang members hung out at Rojas’s house. The victim, Benjamin Juarez, belonged to a rival gang. On July 15, 2012, Fernandez shot and killed Juarez as Juarez sat in his car. A witness heard the gunshots and saw Fernandez running with Haro to Rojas’s nearby house. Law enforcement found the gun used to kill Juarez in Rojas’s backyard. The four men were arrested and placed in a patrol car, where, during a surreptitiously recorded conversation, Fernandez admitted he was the shooter.