People v. Quintos CA6

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Leo Javier Quintos appeals from the denial of his Penal Code section 1170.951 resentencing petition after an evidentiary hearing. As relevant here, section 1170.95 allows individuals convicted of felony murder or murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine or other theory under which malice is imputed to a person based solely on that person’s participation in a crime to petition the superior court to vacate the conviction under recent changes to the law that limited murder liability. (See § 1170.95, subd. (a).) Defendant pleaded no contest to first degree murder (§ 187) in 2002, and after a bench trial the court found true the allegation that defendant committed the offense for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. Defendant contends that the denial order must be reversed because it is unclear whether the superior court required the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of murder under current law. Alternatively, defendant contends there is insufficient evidence to support…