People v. Barba CA4/3

DISCUSSION

Appellant contends the trial court’s denial order must be reversed because while his appeal was pending, the Legislature amended section 1170.95 to apply to the crime of attempted murder. Respondent agrees, and so do we. Appellant’s underlying claim for resentencing is grounded in Senate Bill No. 1437, which narrowed the scope of vicarious liability for the crime of murder by limiting the felony murder rule and abolishing the natural and probable consequences doctrine in murder cases. (§§ 188, subd. (a)(3), 189, subd. (e).) That bill “also added section 1170.95 to the Penal Code, which creates a procedure for convicted murderers who could not be convicted under the law as amended to retroactively seek relief” in the form of resentencing. (People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 957, fn. omitted.) As originally enacted, section 1170.95 applied only to defendants who were convicted of murder. (Former § 1170.95, subd. (a).) However, effective January 1, 2022, the statute was expanded to include defendants who were convicted of “attempted murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine[.]” (§ 1170.95, subd. (a), as amended by Sen. Bill No. 775, Stats. 2021, ch.…