People v. Shipp CA2/1

BACKGROUND

A. Guilty Plea On October 23, 1979, Jerald Shipp waived his constitutional rights and pleaded guilty to one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)). He also admitted that he committed the murder during the commission and attempted commission of the crime of robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) and that he used a handgun (§ 12022.5). During the plea hearing, the following exchange occurred between the prosecutor and Shipp: “[The prosecutor]: Is it true, Mr. Shipp, that on the 2nd day of August of 1979, you entered the King Arthur Steak House located in Long Beach, that you were armed with a handgun, that your intent on entering was to rob the people inside, that once inside you began to rob some of the people when the man by the name of Carl Duggins refused to give up his property, and that you and one of your confederates then shot this man because he was resisting. [¶] Is all that true? “[Shipp]: Yes.” The court sentenced Shipp to life without the possibility of parole.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 B. Petition for Resentencing Thirty-nine years after Shipp’s guilty plea, in 2018, the Legislature enacted Senate…