People v. Wright CA3

I. BACKGROUND

Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.), which became effective January 1, 2019, was enacted “to ensure that murder liability is not imposed on a person who is not the actual killer, did not act with the intent to kill, or was not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life.” (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 1, subd. (f).) The bill amended the definition of malice in section 188 and revised the definition of the degrees of murder to address felony-murder liability in section 189. (Id., §§ 2-3; see People v. Gutierrez-Salazar (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 411, 417.) Senate Bill No. 1437 also added section 1170.95, which allows those “convicted of felony murder or murder under a natural and probable consequences theory [to] file a petition with the court that sentenced the petitioner to have the petitioner’s murder conviction vacated and to be resentenced on any remaining counts when all of the following conditions apply: [¶] (1) A complaint, information, or indictment was filed against the petitioner that allowed the prosecution to proceed under a theory of felony murder or murder under the natural and probable consequences…