People v. Contreras CA2/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Fredrick Walker is killed and dismembered2 In early August 1995, Fredrick Walker came into possession of more than $935. In the late morning or early afternoon of August 9, 1995, Contreras, Scott Anthony Taylor, and Taylor’s girlfriend Cinnamon Meyer met up at Taylor’s home. Contreras and Taylor were friends of Walker. Contreras said he needed $400 to go to “contracting school” but he didn’t have the money. (Contreras I.)

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 text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) As the truth of the facts of the crime are not necessary for our resolution of this appeal, we summarize them only for the basis of Contreras’s conviction. (See People v. Woodell (1998) 17 Cal.4th 448, 459–460.) We previously granted the Attorney General’s request for judicial notice of the appellate record in Contreras’s direct appeal, People v. Contreras (Jan. 6, 2000, B113488) [nonpub. opn.] (Contreras I).

2 That evening, Walker, Contreras, Taylor, and a woman named Lisa Garringer arrived at Taylor’s home. Around 7:00 p.m., Contreras,…