People v. Gulley CA3

BACKGROUND

On February 27, 2019, defendant filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95. The People filed a response and moved the trial court to dismiss the petition. Defendant then filed her reply. After quoting extensively from this court’s prior opinion affirming defendant’s conviction, the court denied defendant’s petition without issuing an order to show cause. In reaching its decision, the trial court found that although the jury “was instructed on both direct aiding and abetting and the natural and probable consequences doctrine, there was sufficient evidence for a juror to have found defendant . . . guilt[y] based on an implied malice theory . . . . As this could have occurred, defendant . . . is not eligible to seek relief from her second degree murder conviction under Penal Code [section] 1170.95.” The court further explained it was not weighing evidence or making credibility determinations but was “undertaking a review of the Third District’s appellate opinion and the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial that would allow a jury to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant . . . is guilty of second degree murder based on

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