People v. Thomas CA2/2

BACKGROUND

In February 1986, defendant pled guilty to one count of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a))1 and was sentenced to state prison for 15 years to life. On June 4, 2020, defendant filed a petition seeking resentencing under section 1170.95. (People v. Thomas (Jan. 14, 2021, B306959).) On June 10, 2020, defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the superior court seeking to vacate his conviction based on ineffective assistance of counsel. (People v. Thomas, supra, B306959.) On June 23, 2020, the superior court denied the petition for writ of habeas corpus on two broad grounds—namely, that (1) defendant’s petition was untimely filed, and (2) his ineffective assistance of counsel claims lacked merit because his counsel was not ineffective for (a) failing to advise him of the applicability of later-enacted section 1016.8, which did not apply to defendant, and (b) not objecting to the charging document, which was not defective. (People v. Thomas, supra, B306959.) Defendant appealed the order. However, in a noncapital case, no appeal lies from the denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus. (Robinson v. Lewis (2020) 9 Cal.5th 883, 895 [“in…