People v. Murillo CA5

DISCUSSION

The parties contend that the core issue in this case is whether the trial court could properly dismiss appellant’s January 2022 petition with prejudice in light of appellant’s request to withdraw the petition and eventual acceptance of a with prejudice dismissal as a condition. The People note a lack of statutory law supporting a “with prejudice” dismissal of a petition under section 1172.6 and further concede that the common law’s existing bases for a court’s inherent authority to grant a dismissal with prejudice do not apply in this case. Based on this concession, the People agree that the trial court could not rely on the 2022 dismissal with prejudice to deny appellant’s petition at the prima facie stage. Standard of Review Under the resentencing statute, a “person convicted of … manslaughter may file a petition with the court that sentenced the petitioner to have the petitioner’s … conviction vacated and to be resentenced … when all of the following conditions apply: “(1) A complaint, information, or indictment was filed against the petitioner that allowed the prosecution to proceed under a theory of felony murder, murder under the natural and probable consequences…