People v. Juarez CA5

Filed 6/24/24 P. v. Juarez CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THE PEOPLE, F086959 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CF92461258) v.

FRANK JUAREZ, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Arlan L. Harrell, Judge. John F. Schuck, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Louis M. Vasquez, Lewis A. Martinez, Christina Simpson, and William K. Kim, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Detjen, Acting P. J., Smith, J. and Snauffer, J.

INTRODUCTION In 1992, appellant Frank Juarez was convicted by jury of first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187) and kidnapping (§ 207, subd. (a)). In addition, the jury found true a special circumstance which alleged that the murder had occurred during the course of a kidnapping (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)). Juarez was sentenced to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole. In 2021, Juarez filed a petition for resentencing under former section 1170.95, now section 1172.6.2 The trial court denied Juarez’s petition, reasoning that the record demonstrated that Juarez was likely the actual killer, but at a minimum, was a major participant in the underlying felony who had acted with reckless indifference to human life. This court affirmed the trial court’s order in an unpublished opinion, while further observing that Juarez’s petition was facially deficient. (See People v. Juarez (Mar. 23, 2022, F083314) [nonpub. opn.], at p. 3.) The matter was remanded back to this court for reconsideration following our Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698. We vacated our prior decision with the following directions on remand: “following the filing of an amended petition by Juarez …, the trial court is directed to appoint counsel to Juarez, to issue an order to show cause, and to conduct further proceedings consistent with section 1172.6.” (People v. Juarez (Mar. 14, 2023, F083314) [nonpub. opn.] at p. 12.) On June 1, 2023, Juarez filed an amended petition for resentencing under section 1172.6.