People v. Silva CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2016, a jury convicted petitioner Heliodoro Arreola Silva with the first degree murder of Rodolfo B. (Pen. Code,1 §§ 187, subd. (a), 189, count 1) and the first degree murder of Reyes B. (§§ 187, subd. (a), 189, count 2).2 For both counts, the jury found true the special circumstance that Silva committed the murders during the commission or attempted commission of a kidnapping (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B)). For each murder, the trial court imposed consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional one-year term for a firearm enhancement. (People v. Silva (Aug. 7, 2019, F074899) [nonpub. opn.] (Silva I).) In 2019, Silva filed a petition for resentencing on his murder convictions pursuant to former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6).3 The trial court summarily denied the petition at the prima facie stage. Subsequently, this court held that because “the jury found true the kidnapping special circumstance (§ 190.2, subdivision (a)(17)(B), (M)),” it “was required to find petitioner acted with intent to kill, whether as the actual killer or an aider and abettor.” Thus, “the jury made the requisite findings necessary to sustain a murder conviction…