P. v. Cooper CA4/1
Calvin Cooper appeals an order summarily denying his petition to vacate his first degree murder conviction under Penal Code section 1170.95. The trial court found he was not entitled to relief, as a matter of law, because the jury returned a true finding on a robbery-murder special circumstance with the murder conviction. The jury’s finding on the special circumstance was made before the California Supreme Court’s decisions in People v. Banks (2015) 61 Cal.4th 788 (Banks) and People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522 (Clark), which clarified the meaning of the terms “major participant” and “reckless indifference to human life” necessary to support such felony-murder special circumstance findings. (Banks, at pp. 797-798, 803; Clark, at pp. 608-624.)
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