People v. Osborne CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

In 1981, defendant and appellant Pamela Osborne pleaded nolo contendere to the second degree murder of Benjamine Quiroz (Pen. Code, § 1871) and the trial court sentenced her to 15 years to life in state prison. On May 29, 2019, defendant filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95. After an evidentiary hearing, the court denied the petition. On appeal, defendant contends the court failed to state the burden of proof it used to consider the prosecution’s evidence and erred in admitting into evidence her probation report and the transcript of her May 3, 2012, parole hearing during which she admitted she was the actual killer. We affirm.

II. BACKGROUND2

A. Facts

At her 2012 parole hearing, defendant testified she first saw Quiroz in a liquor store “flashing” his money in an “arrogant fashion.” Quiroz was apparently intoxicated and asked her for a date.

All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

Because defendant pleaded nolo contendere and there was no trial, we base our recitation of facts on the transcript of defendant’s 2012 parole hearing which, as we explain below, the trial court properly…