People v. Rios CA2/1

INTRODUCTION

In 2010, Sergio Rios pleaded no contest to second degree murder. In 2023, Rios filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1172.6, which the superior court denied at the prima facie stage. Rios appeals, contending the court erroneously denied him an evidentiary hearing because it is possible he was convicted based on an imputed malice theory not viable under current law. We disagree. A person convicted of murder as the actual killer is not eligible for relief under section 1172.6. In People v. Patton (2025) 17 Cal.5th 549, our Supreme Court held that a court properly denies a section 1172.6 petition involving a plea at the prima facie stage where there are “unchallenged, relief- foreclosing facts within a preliminary hearing transcript.” (Patton, at p. 564.) Here, the preliminary hearing transcript shows Rios was prosecuted and convicted as the actual killer, and Rios’s petition alleges no facts that might contradict this conclusion. Patton was decided after oral argument in this case and resolved a split of authority on the use of preliminary hearing transcripts at the prima facie stage of a section 1172.6 proceeding. Following the approach adopted…