People v. Alvarez CA2/3

California Court of Appeal·Decided March 27, 2023·No. B315485·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 3/27/23 P. v. Alvarez CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, B315485

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. B350976 v.

RAFAEL ALVAREZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Kerry Bensinger, Judge. Reversed and remanded with instructions.

John P. Dwyer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Charles S. Lee and Theresa A. Patterson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________ Defendant and appellant Rafael Alvarez appeals from the superior court’s order denying his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6.1 In light of changes to the governing statute that took effect after the trial court denied Alvarez’s petition, the record before us does not conclusively establish that Alvarez is ineligible for relief as a matter of law. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. BACKGROUND 1. The shooting, charges, verdict, and sentence In his opening brief, Alvarez takes his summary of facts from this court’s 2012 opinion affirming his conviction on direct appeal, People v. Alvarez (May 24, 2012, B227279) [nonpub. opn.] (Alvarez I).2 On the night of December 31, 2008, Wendy Cervantes went to Amy Contreras’s apartment. They were planning to attend a New Year’s Eve party with David Mendez. Cervantes had invited her ex-boyfriend Christopher Ruiz to the party. (Alvarez I.)

1 References to statutes are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 2022, former section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6 with no change in the text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) 2 While Alvarez recites “the prosecution case” as “summarized” in Alvarez I, he does not concede those facts are true. As Alvarez notes—and as we discuss below—the law now prohibits trial courts from using the facts, or a substantial evidence finding, from a prior appellate decision to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a petitioner is not entitled to resentencing under section 1172.6. We recite the facts from Alvarez I here not for their truth but for the basis of Alvarez’s conviction. (See People v. Woodell (1998) 17 Cal.4th 448, 459- 460.)

2 Ruiz arrived at Contreras’s apartment in a Lexus; Alvarez was driving. Cervantes told Ruiz she was waiting for Mendez to arrive. Ruiz said he and Alvarez would come back. (Alvarez I.) Mendez arrived at Contreras’s apartment shortly thereafter in a Nissan. Contreras got into the Nissan while Cervantes waited for Ruiz and Alvarez to return. Alvarez drove up a few minutes later. Ruiz was now in the back seat with two other men; a third man was sitting in the front passenger seat. Cervantes approached the Lexus and told Ruiz to follow Mendez’s Nissan because she didn’t know where the party was. Someone in the Lexus asked if Mendez belonged to a gang. Cervantes said he didn’t. (Alvarez I.) Cervantes got back in the Nissan. Mendez stopped for a red light and Alvarez pulled up right behind him. While they were waiting for the light to change, Mendez asked if the men in the Lexus were gang members. Contreras said Alvarez was from Temple Street. Mendez said, “ ‘[W]e don’t get along with Temple Street.’ ” Cervantes knew Mendez was planning to pick up a friend who belonged to the Mara Salvatrucha gang, so she got out and walked back to the Lexus. She asked Ruiz not to “ ‘start any problems,’ ” because Mendez was going to pick up “ ‘a homie from M.S.’ ” Ruiz replied they “ ‘weren’t going to start any problems because it was New Year’s.’ ” (Alvarez I.) Cervantes got back in the Nissan. Three or four seconds later, Alvarez pulled the Lexus up right next to the driver’s side of the Nissan and stopped. The man in the front passenger seat of the Lexus pointed a gun out the window and fired four or five shots, hitting Mendez twice. One of the shots was fatal. The Lexus sped off. (Alvarez I.)

3 The People charged Alvarez with Mendez’s murder. They alleged a principal used and discharged a firearm causing death and that Alvarez committed the crime for the benefit of or in association with a gang. The People also alleged Alvarez had a prior strike for criminal threats. At trial, Alvarez contended he was “merely . . . an innocent driver with no idea that one of his passengers was planning to commit a drive-by shooting.” (Alvarez I.) The trial court instructed the jury on murder with malice aforethought, degrees of murder, and direct aiding and abetting. The court did not instruct the jury on felony murder or the natural and probable consequences doctrine. The jury found Alvarez not guilty of first degree murder but guilty of second degree murder. The jury also found true the firearm and gang allegations. In a bench trial, the court found Alvarez’s prior strike true. The trial court sentenced him to 60 years to life, calculated as 15 years to life for the murder, doubled because of the strike, plus 25 years for the firearm,3 plus five years for the serious felony prior under section 667, subdivision (a)(1). On appeal, Alvarez contended the evidence was insufficient to prove he aided and abetted the murder. (Alvarez I.) Another panel of this court rejected that contention. The court noted, “by pulling up alongside the Nissan at the stoplight, Alvarez enabled the gunman to get a clear shot at the victim”; he had a motive for facilitating the crime (Mendez had some connection with

3 On direct appeal we ordered the abstract of judgment corrected to reflect the sentence on the firearm enhancement was 25 years to life, not 25 years. (Alvarez I.)

4 Mara Salvatrucha); and his “immediate post-shooting conduct, i.e., fleeing the crime scene at high speed, demonstrated consciousness of guilt.” (Alvarez I.) 2. Alvarez’s resentencing petition After Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437) took effect, Alvarez filed, on November 17, 2020, a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6. On a downloadable form, Alvarez checked boxes stating an information had been filed against him that allowed the prosecution to proceed under a theory of felony murder or murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine; he had been convicted at trial “of 1st or 2nd degree murder pursuant to the felony murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine”; he “could not now be convicted of 1st or 2nd degree murder because of changes made to Penal Code §§ 188 and 189”; and he “was convicted of 2nd degree murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine or under the 2nd degree felony murder doctrine and [he] could not now be convicted of murder because of changes to Penal Code § 188 . . . .” Alvarez also checked the box asking the court to appoint counsel for him. The trial court appointed counsel for Alvarez. On May 18, 2021, the district attorney filed a response to Alvarez’s petition. The prosecution opposed the petition because Alvarez’s “jury was not instructed under either felony murder or natural and probable consequences theories of culpability” and he therefore was “ineligible for relief” “[a]s a matter of law.” The prosecution attached to its brief a copy of Alvarez I and copies of some of the jury instructions given at Alvarez’s trial. The instructions included CALCRIM No. 400 (“Aiding and Abetting: General Principles”) and No.

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