Shorts

*714 Penal Code section 1054.9 1 establishes a mechanism for postconviction discovery of materials "in the possession of the prosecution and law enforcement authorities to which the same defendant would have been entitled at time of trial" in cases in which a sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole has been imposed. In People v. Superior Court ( Morales ) (2017) 2 Cal.5th 523 , 213 Cal.Rptr.3d 581 , 388 P.3d 811 ( Morales ) the Supreme Court held the superior court has jurisdiction pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 187 to grant a motion to preserve evidence potentially discoverable under section 1054.9 during the pendency of an automatic appeal of a capital case to the Supreme Court. However, the Court warned, "An order purporting to require the preservation of materials beyond the scope of Penal Code section 1054.9 *715 would ... exceed the trial court's jurisdiction on a motion to preserve evidence." ( Morales , at p. 535, 213 Cal.Rptr.3d 581 , 388 P.3d 811 .)

Here, narrowly construing its authority under section 1054.9 and Morales , the superior court denied in part the motion to preserve evidence filed by Donald R. Shorts, whose…