People v. Wyly CA4/3

FACTS

In 1994, following the death of his infant son, Wyly was charged with murder and several counts of child abuse and inflicting corporal injury on a child. He was the only person charged. A jury convicted Wyly of second degree murder and the remaining charges. The trial court sentenced him to 20 years and four months to life in prison. We affirmed the judgment. (People v. Wyly (July 29, 1997, G018943 [nonpub. opn.].) In 2024, Wyly filed a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6, asserting he could not presently be convicted of murder under sections 188 and 189, which were amended in 2019 to limit the scope of the traditional felony-murder rule and eliminate the natural and probable consequences theory of murder. After appointing counsel and reviewing the parties’ briefs, the information, the abstract of judgment, the jury instructions, and the verdict forms, the trial court found Wyly had not made a prima facie showing he was entitled to relief and denied his petition. The court reasoned: “A review of the

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 record of conviction, including the instructions presented to the jury at trial, makes clear there was no felony…