People v. Gonzalez CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Raymond Gonzalez appeals from an order summarily 1 denying his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6. Defendant

argues the trial court erroneously concluded that he failed to establish a prima facie case

of resentencing eligibility. He further argues the record shows that the trial court’s ruling

was based on a material misunderstanding of the facts stated in the preliminary hearing

transcript. In addition, defendant argues that the trial court erred in engaging in

impermissible fact-finding based on the preliminary hearing transcript.

We agree the trial court erred in denying defendant’s resentencing petition at the

prima facie stage. We therefore reverse the order and remand the matter to the trial court

with directions to issue an order to show cause and hold an evidentiary hearing under

section 1172.6, subdivision (d).

1 Unless otherwise noted, all statutory references are to the Penal Code. Defendant filed his petition for resentencing under former section 1170.95, which the Legislature later renumbered as section 1172.6 without substantive change. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) We hereafter cite to section…