People v. Lopez CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2008, appellant Joseph Enrique Lopez (appellant) was convicted after a jury trial of count 1, first degree murder, with two special circumstances: the murder was intentional and committed while appellant was an active participant in a criminal street gang (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(22));1 and the murder was committed by appellant while the defendants were engaged in the commission of rape (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)). In 2020, appellant filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95, and asserted he was not the actual killer, he was convicted under the felony-murder rule, and/or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, and he could not be now convicted of first or second degree murder because of the amendments to sections 188 and 189. The court denied the petition. On appeal, his appellate counsel has filed a brief which summarizes the facts with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) We affirm.

FACTS2

On June 12, 2006, police were called to a tow yard in Fresno where the body of 16-year-old Courtney Rice was discovered in the bed of a pickup…