People v. Shepard CA3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Defendant’s Conviction by Jury On June 19, 2007, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and found true the allegations that the murder was committed during the commission or attempted commission of a robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A)), that defendant intentionally and personally discharged a firearm causing death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), and that a principal in the crime was armed with a firearm (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)). The trial court sentenced him to an aggregate prison term of life without the possibility of parole plus 25 years to life. We affirmed his conviction on appeal. (People v. Shepard (Sept. 10, 2009, C057177) [nonpub. opn.].) B. Defendant’s First Section 1172.6 Petition On March 3, 2021, defendant filed a form petition for resentencing under section 1172.6 (hereinafter defendant’s first petition). The People opposed defendant’s first petition arguing in pertinent part that he was ineligible for relief as the actual killer. Neither defendant’s first petition, nor his reply brief in support thereof averred that he was not the actual killer. Rather, defendant’s reply brief acknowledged he did “not necessarily…