P. v. Machuca CA2/5
In 1992, a trial jury convicted defendant and appellant Robbin Machuca (defendant), and three accomplices, of three counts of first degree murder and numerous other offenses, including one count of conspiracy to commit murder. It is undisputed that defendant was not the actual killer of the three victims, and that the trial jury was instructed on principles of felony murder and murder liability under the natural and probable consequences doctrine. Years later, in 2019, defendant petitioned for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.95. After first appointing counsel for defendant, the trial court denied section 1170.95 relief without issuing an order to show cause, concluding defendant was ineligible for relief as a matter of law because if she “were to be tried today, it is this court’s opinion that she would be found guilty of [m]urder on both [f]elony [m]urder and [c]onspiracy theories.”
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