Caldwell

*82 *181 Appellant Maurice Caldwell's 1991 second degree murder conviction was reversed when the trial court granted his habeas corpus petition. Caldwell's habeas petition alleged various grounds for relief-including the actual innocence claim at issue here-but the sole basis for *182 granting the petition was the ineffective assistance of his trial counsel. Caldwell filed a subsequent Penal Code section 1485.55 1 motion for a finding of factual innocence (factual innocence motion), which the trial court denied. Caldwell appeals. The People contend that the order is not appealable. We hold that the order is appealable, review the record de novo and affirm the trial court's decision.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The murder and investigation

On June 30, 1990, at approximately 2:30 a.m., Judy Acosta was murdered, and his friend, Domingo Bobila, was injured when they were shot during a drug deal in the Alemany Housing Project in San Francisco. Acosta and Bobila drove to the 900 block of Ellsworth Street with their friends Eric Aguirre and Dominador Viray. Having spent the evening drinking beer, the men decided to buy crack cocaine in the Alemany projects, an area known for…