People v. Mitchell CA5
Opinion
Opinion
INTRODUCTION
In 1993, petitioner Ricky Marsden Mitchell entered a plea of no contest to the murder of Verlin Mitchell1 (Pen. Code,2 § 187, subd. (a)), and admitted the special circumstance of murder during the commission or attempted commission of a burglary (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(VII)).3 For this offense, he was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. In 2019, petitioner filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95. The court summarily denied the petition without stating its reasons. On appeal, petitioner asserts he established a prima facie claim for resentencing relief, and the court therefore erred in denying the petition without issuing an order to show cause and holding an evidentiary hearing. We conclude the court did not err in summarily denying the petition without issuing an order to show cause or holding an evidentiary hearing because the record establishes petitioner is ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law. Accordingly, we affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The facts underlying the offenses are not relevant to our determination, and we therefore summarize them only briefly.