People v. Smith CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Marquell Dion Smith appeals from the summary denial of a petition to

vacate his first degree murder conviction under Penal Code section 1170.95.1 The trial court found Smith was not entitled to relief, as a matter of law, because the jury that convicted him of murder returned a true finding on a robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation associated with the murder charge. The special-circumstance finding meant the jury found that Smith: (1) was the actual killer; (2) aided and abetted in the commission of the murder with an intent to kill; or (3) aided and abetted in the commission of the robbery while acting as a major participant and with reckless indifference to human life. (§ 190.2, subds. (b)–(d).) After the trial court denied Smith’s resentencing petition, our court determined that a true felony-murder special-circumstance finding does not categorically preclude resentencing under section 1170.95 where, as here, the true finding was made prior to People v. Banks (2015) 61 Cal.4th 788 (Banks) and People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522 (Clark)—Supreme Court decisions that clarified the meaning of the special-circumstances statute. (People v. Arias (2021) 66…