People v. Padilla CA5

California Court of Appeal·Decided October 20, 2023·No. F085064·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 10/20/23 P. v. Padilla CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F085064 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. VCF300758C) v.

FRANCISCO MANUEL PADILLA, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Tulare County. Melinda Myrle Reed, Judge.

John F. Schuck, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Michael A. Canzoneri and Clifford E. Zall, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- In 2018, Francisco Manuel Padilla (defendant) pleaded no contest to first degree murder. The plea was entered with notice of the People’s reliance on the provocative act doctrine, which applies when an accomplice is killed by someone acting with privileged lethal force—typically a crime victim or a police officer. Defendant later moved to withdraw his plea, which delayed the entry of judgment until May 2019. In January 2019, by enactment of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437) the natural and probable consequences doctrine was abrogated in the context of aiding and abetting liability for murder. (People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 957.) Senate Bill 1437 also limited the scope of California’s felony-murder rule. (Lewis, at p. 957.) Although defendant filed an appeal challenging the denial of his motion to withdraw his plea, he raised no issues regarding Senate Bill 1437 or the factual basis for his plea. The judgment of conviction was affirmed by this court in People v. Padilla (Jan. 6, 2022, F079471) (nonpub. opn.) (Padilla I). Senate Bill 1437 further authorized retroactive relief for defendants previously convicted of murder based on the natural and probable consequences doctrine or the felony-murder rule. Originally set forth in Penal Code former section 1170.95, and now in section 1172.6, the statutory procedure allows eligible defendants to file a petition for resentencing. (All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) Defendant filed such a petition, and it was denied for failure to make a prima facie showing of eligibility. Defendant now appeals from the order denying his petition. Appellate courts have uniformly held that Senate Bill 1437 made no changes in the law affecting the validity of the provocative act doctrine. Defendant does not disagree with those holdings. Instead, he denies the provocative act doctrine is applicable to the facts of his case. As the People correctly observe, defendant’s claim is merely a belated attempt to challenge the factual basis for his plea. We affirm the order denying his petition. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The People’s Request for Judicial Notice The People have requested judicial notice of the preliminary hearing transcript and the probation report from the record in Padilla I. Defendant opposes any consideration

2. of the probation report, but he does not object to judicial notice of the preliminary hearing transcript. Indeed, the claim he asserts is based on certain evidence in the preliminary hearing transcript. We hereby grant the unopposed request for judicial notice of the preliminary hearing transcript. Judicial notice of the probation report is unnecessary, and that part of the People’s request is denied. On our own motion, we take judicial notice of this court’s opinion in Padilla I and of the People’s trial brief as found in the Padilla I clerk’s transcript. (Evid. Code, §§ 451, subd. (a), 452, subd. (d).) The California Supreme Court is presently considering the extent to which a sentencing court can rely on a preliminary hearing transcript in ruling on a defendant’s prima facie showing under section 1172.6. (See People v. Patton (2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 649, 658, rev. granted June 28, 2023, S279670.) That issue is not implicated here. The only fact of material consequence in the preliminary hearing transcript is one defendant affirmatively concedes to be true: his murder conviction was/is based on the death of an alleged accomplice and not a crime victim. Factual Background A summary of the underlying events is provided in Padilla I. For purposes of this appeal, the relevant facts are as follows: On May 27, 2014, a group of people that included Victor Hernandez DeHaro (DeHaro) forcibly entered a home occupied by four residents (the victims). One of the residents exchanged gunfire with the intruders, which resulted in DeHaro’s death. Defendant has previously stipulated to the fact DeHaro died from a gunshot wound. Defendant’s opening brief acknowledges “[t]he entry into the victims’ home appears to have been a burglary and an attempted robbery.” Procedural Background In September 2016, the Tulare County District Attorney filed an amended information jointly charging defendant and two codefendants with murder based on the

3. killing of DeHaro (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1) and with attempted premeditated murder of the four victims (§§ 187, 664; counts 2–5). They were also charged with discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling (§ 246; count 6); attempted home invasion robbery (§§ 211, 213, subd. (a)(1)(A), 664; count 7); assault with a semiautomatic firearm (§ 245, subd. (b); count 8); and first degree burglary (§ 459; count 9). Count 1 alleged the murder occurred during the commission or attempted commission of robbery and/or burglary. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A), (G).) Gang and firearm enhancement allegations were included in all counts. The attempted murder counts were alleged to be gang related such that each offense was punishable by a prison term of 15 years to life. (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(5).) Defendant was further alleged to have suffered a prior strike and prior serious felony conviction. (§§ 667, subds. (a)(1), (b)–(i), 1170.12.) Defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges. Due to series of delays, the case did not go to trial until August 2018. On August 16, 2018, the People filed a trial brief containing a nine-page discussion about the provocative act doctrine. Within this discussion, it was alleged the trial evidence would “establish that the conduct of the defendants and their counterparts fall[s] within the provocative act murder doctrine and thus the murder charge related to the death of their accomplice should be decided by the jury under this legal doctrine.” It was further alleged “the conduct engaged in by the defendants and other surviving accomplices, in conjunction with at least one necessary provocative act that was committed by one of the perpetrators beyond the decedent, establish their criminal liability for the death of their accomplice under the provocative murder act doctrine such that it is an issue for the jury to decide.” According to an attached proof of service, the trial brief was served upon all defense counsel. On August 22, 2018, defendant accepted a plea offer. The plea deal included the resolution of a separate case. While awaiting trial, defendant had been charged in Tulare

4. Superior Court case No. VCF356923A (VCF356923A) with possession of a weapon in a penal institution (§ 4502, subd. (a)). Defendant entered pleas of no contest to counts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as well as to the charge in VCF356923A.

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