People v. Soto CA5

INTRODUCTION

Nine years ago, defendant Christian Abraham Soto pled guilty to attempted murder under an aiding and abetting theory in lieu of trial. After the passage of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437), defendant petitioned for relief in the trial court under Penal Code section 1170.95, but the court denied his petition for failure to state a prima facie case since defendant entered a plea to attempted murder as opposed to murder. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) On appeal, defendant contended the trial court erred in denying his petition because due process and equal protection required extension of the petitioning procedure provided for in section 1170.95 to defendants, like him, who were convicted of attempted murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine. In our initial opinion we affirmed the court’s order denying defendant’s petition on the grounds defendant was ineligible for relief under the plain language of section 1170.95, which limited relief to defendants convicted of murder under a now prohibited theory. Defendant petitioned for review. The California Supreme Court granted the petition and…