People v. Lee CA5

INTRODUCTION

David Lee, Jr., Corey Ray Johnson, and Joseph Kevin Dixon (defendants) were charged and convicted of committing multiple offenses, including three counts of first degree premeditated murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), § 189)1 with multiple murder and gang special circumstances (§ 190.2, subds. (a)(3), (a)(22)). They were each sentenced to three consecutive terms of life in prison without possibility of parole, and their murder convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. In 2020, appellant Lee filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95 and alleged his murder convictions were based on the felony-murder rule and/or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, and he was not the actual killer. The superior court denied Lee’s petition, and he filed this appeal. On appeal, Lee’s 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

“Defendants Corey Ray Johnson, Joseph Kevin Dixon, and David Lee, Jr., were part of a 200-member Bakersfield gang called the Country Boy Crips (CBC).…