People v. Phim CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 1994, appellant Viret Phim, a 17-year-old gang member from Stockton, shot and killed two of his own confederates while they were participating in the robbery of a 14-year-old girl outside a market in Modesto. Appellant was subsequently convicted of two counts of first degree murder, with robbery and multiple-murder special circumstances, under a theory of felony murder, as well as other offenses. The trial court sentenced him to two terms of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for the murders, staying the second LWOP term. This court affirmed appellant’s convictions in 1997. (People v. Phim (Nov. 20, 1997, F025275) [nonpub. opn.].) On April 8, 2013, appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which he claimed he was entitled to resentencing on both statutory grounds pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1170, subdivision (d)(2) (hereafter § 1170(d)(2)), and on federal constitutional grounds pursuant to Miller v. Alabama (2012) 567 U.S. ___ [132 S.Ct. 2455] (Miller). On June 14, 2013, the trial court issued written orders denying, without prejudice, appellant’s petition for writ of habeas corpus with respect to his Miller-based constitutional…