People v. Maggio CA3

BACKGROUND

On October 26, 2005, defendant strangled and drowned Aaron Brooks. (People v. Maggio (Feb. 11, 2009, C055680) [nonpub. opn.] (Maggio).)2 Defendant told law enforcement he and Brooks got into a fight, ended up in a creek where defendant was able to push Brooks underwater, and “[w]hen Brooks was lying face down in the water, defendant let him go, realizing he was dead.” (Ibid.) Defendant was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and presented a mental state defense. (Ibid.) The jury convicted defendant of second degree murder (§§ 187, 189) and defendant was sentenced to 15 years to life. (Maggio, supra, C055680.) Defendant appealed arguing the jury was improperly instructed on imperfect self-defense and that he was incompetent to testify on his own behalf; we affirmed his conviction. (Ibid.) On May 13, 2019, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under section 1170.95. Defendant alleged he was “convicted of 2nd Degree murder pursuant to the Felony Murder Rule” and that he could not now be convicted of second degree murder because of changes made to sections 188 and 189 effective January 1, 2019. The People and defendant’s appointed counsel filed briefing on the…