People v. Sullivan CA2/8

DISCUSSION

Lockett already details the underlying factual record, and the reasons why we concluded the trial court’s conclusions were not supported by substantial evidence as to Sullivan’s co-

All further section references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.

2 defendants. The current appeal is based on the identical trial record and the identical order denying the petition. To reach a different result, we would either have to: (1) decide our recent decision in July of 2021 was incorrect; or (2) decide there was a material difference in the evidence as to Sullivan, justifying a different outcome for him. The People chose in their brief to virtually ignore our ruling in Lockett. They mention in a footnote that we reversed the trial court as to Lockett and Henderson but say nothing about why the result should be any different for Sullivan. No purpose would be served by repeating everything we have already said in Lockett, so we incorporate that opinion herein by this reference. We believe the rationale for the decision in Lockett applies with equal force to Sullivan. If his appeal had been considered at the same time as Lockett and Henderson’s, the result for…