People v. Ellis CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2013, appellant and defendant Kathryn Ann Ellis (defendant) was convicted after a jury trial of the premeditated first degree murder of her husband, Robert Wayne Ellis. The jury found true the financial benefit special circumstance and that she personally discharged a firearm causing death. Defendant was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole (LWOP) for murder with the special circumstance, plus 25 years for the firearm enhancement. She filed a direct appeal but dismissed it on her own motion. In 2024, defendant filed a petition in the trial court pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1172.6 for resentencing of her first degree murder conviction. The court denied the petition for failing to state a prima facie case because the record of conviction showed the jury was not instructed on any now-invalid imputed malice theories. In this appeal from the denial of her section 1172.6 petition, appellate counsel filed a brief with this court pursuant to People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 and People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, which summarized the facts and procedural history with citations to the record, raised no issues, and asked this court to…