People v. Lee CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

Briaell Michael Lee appeals from the trial court’s order denying his petition under Penal Code section 1170.95 (Section 1170.95) to vacate his conviction for the second degree murder of Mario Larios. At trial, Lee admitted -- both in a recorded police interview played for the jury, and through his counsel’s closing argument -- that he had fatally shot Larios. In a prior opinion, we affirmed his murder conviction, along with a sentence enhancement imposed as a result of the jury’s finding that Lee caused death or great bodily injury by personally and intentionally discharging a firearm (the firearm enhancement). (People v. Lee (Oct. 27, 2014, No. B252982) [nonpub. opn.] 2014 Cal.App.Unpub. LEXIS 7690.) In his petition, Lee alleged he had been convicted under the felony murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, as required to establish eligibility for relief under Section 1170.95. In response, the People argued Lee was ineligible for relief because the jury was not instructed on the felony murder rule or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, and because the record of conviction showed that the jury found Lee was Larios’s actual killer.…