Catlin

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, George Hendrickson and Stephen G. Herndon, Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party in Interest.

CORNELL, Acting P. J.—

Steven David Catlin is awaiting execution for the 1984 murder of his mother, Martha Catlin, and is serving life sentences for the murders of two of his ex-wives, Joyce and Glenna Catlin. [1] He has filed a petition for a writ of mandate seeking an order directing the trial court to grant his motion for postconviction discovery pursuant to the provisions of Penal Code section 1054.9. [2] The trial court denied Catlin's section 1054.9 motion, finding it was not filed within a reasonable time period.

Catlin argues the trial court erred because the statute does not require a section 1054.9 motion be filed within a "reasonable" time period. We agree with Catlin that section 1054.9 does not impose any such requirement, but conclude that In re Steele (2004) 32 Cal.4th 682 [ 10 Cal.Rptr.3d 536 , 85 P.3d 444 ] ( Steele ) requires a motion filed pursuant to the statute be filed within a reasonable time period. Accordingly, we will…