P. v. Garcia CA2/7
Aviu Garcia, convicted in 2004 with Jacinto Perez Sanchez of first degree murder with a felony-murder special-circumstance finding, appeals the superior court’s denial of his petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.95 without issuing an order to show cause and holding an evidentiary hearing to determine his eligibility for relief. We agree with Garcia that the court erred in concluding the jury found he had actually fired the shot that killed Adrian Briones, making Garcia ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law. We also reject the Attorney General’s contentions the superior court’s error was harmless because the jury’s special-circumstance finding, made more than a decade before the Supreme Court’s decisions in People v. Banks (2015) 61 Cal.4th 788 (Banks) and People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522 (Clark), precluded Garcia’s petition or, alternatively, the record of conviction, viewed in light of the Banks/Clark factors, indisputably established
Comments on P. v. Garcia CA2/7