People v. Sheppard CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 1985, a jury convicted defendant Melissa Ann Sheppard of first degree murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187), with the special circumstances the murder was committed during the commission or attempted commission of a robbery and burglary (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(i), (a)(17)(vii)), and involved the infliction of torture (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(18)). (People v. Sheppard (Dec. 4, 1987, F006780 [nonpub. opn.] (Sheppard I).) Defendant was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. In 2024, defendant filed a request for recall and resentencing pursuant to Assembly Bill No. 600 (2023-2024 Reg. Sess.) (Assem. Bill No. 600) and section 1172.1. The trial court summarily denied the request for relief. On appeal, defendant contends her “case must be remanded for resentencing because the trial court erred in denying her ... section 1172.1 petition in violation of due process of law.” (Boldface and capitalization omitted.) For the reasons stated below, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND3

In Sheppard II, we previously summarized the facts as follows from our prior opinion in Sheppard I:

“On June 4, 1984, Rebecca F.[4]…