People v. Pineda CA4/2

INTRODUCTION

In 2014, defendant and appellant Michael Andrew Pineda pled guilty to second

degree murder and admitted a Penal Code1 section 12022.53, subdivision (b) personal

firearm use allegation. In 2022, he petitioned for resentencing pursuant to section 1172.

(former section 1170.95).2 The trial court denied his petition at the prima facie stage,

concluding defendant was ineligible for relief because the preliminary hearing transcript

established that he was the actual shooter.

On appeal, defendant originally argued that the court improperly denied his

petition at the prima facie stage because the record of conviction did not establish as a

matter of law that he was ineligible for resentencing, and the court could not have denied

his petition without improperly engaging in factfinding. In our prior unpublished

opinion, we concluded that the trial court erred in relying on the preliminary hearing

transcript to deny the petition, since defendant did not admit the truth of the evidence

adduced at the preliminary hearing and the court engaged in judicial factfinding in

finding that he was the actual shooter. We reversed the trial court’s order denying…