P. v. Nguyen CA4/3
Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Cheri T. Pham, Judge. Affirmed.
Allen G. Weinberg, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Appellant Cuong Viet Nguyen was convicted of murder in 2010. He was sentenced to 55 years to life in prison, but after a successful appeal, that sentence was reduced to 40 years.
Two years ago, appellant filed a petition pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.95 seeking resentencing on his murder conviction. Section 1170.95 is the procedural mechanism for implementing legislative changes in California law which narrow the scope of vicarious liability for murder in two ways. First, the Legislature eliminated the natural and probable consequences theory for that crime by providing that “[m]alice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his or her participation in a crime.” (§ 188, subd. (a)(3).) Second, it reined in the felony murder rule so
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