People v. Aleo CA5

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant Frank Joseph Aleo (defendant) of multiple offenses, including first degree murder in 1983 based upon his involvement in an armed robbery and burglary during which a victim was shot and killed. After the passage of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill No. 1437), defendant filed a Penal Code section 1172.6 (formerly § 1170.95) petition for resentencing, which the trial court denied without issuing an order to show cause or holding an evidentiary hearing. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) We previously reversed the court’s order denying the petition at the prima facie stage and remanded the matter for the court to issue an order to show cause and to hold an evidentiary hearing. Following an evidentiary hearing, the court again denied defendant’s petition, concluding defendant was a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life and, thus, ineligible for relief. Defendant appealed from the order denying his section 1172.6 petition after the evidentiary hearing, arguing insufficient evidence supported the trial court’s findings, and the trial court…