People v. Fielder CA2/8

BACKGROUND

In 2015, Fielder pled guilty to the second degree murder of Elvia Romero and was sentenced to 15 years to life. (§ 187, subd. (b)(1); § 186.22, subd. (b)(1).) He filed a section 1170.95 form petition on February 6, 2020, declaring he was neither a direct aider and abettor in the murder nor a major participant who acted with reckless indifference to human life. He failed to check a box stating he was not the actual killer. Fielder attached two letters to his petition. One was a 2005 letter written by a deputy district attorney requesting secure housing for him. In it, she explained Fielder “admitted he shot Elvia Romero” at the direction of fellow gang members. Romero died of a heart attack after being shot in the hip and leg. Fielder testified against a co-defendant in a separate trial.

1 Undesignated statutory citations refer to the Penal Code.

2 The second letter was stamped received by the Board of Parole Hearings on September 14, 2016. It was written by one of the two detectives assigned to Fielder’s case. She explained the circumstances leading up to the shooting, and said the victim “Elvia [Romero] grabbed on to Fielder and he fired a shot which entered her…