People v. Higuera CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

In 2005, following a jury trial, Higuera and three other defendants were convicted of first degree murder. The jury found true a special circumstance allegation that Higuera and his codefendants intentionally

All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.

1 killed the victim while they were active participants in a criminal street gang and that the murder was carried out to further the activities of the criminal street gang (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(22)). At trial, the prosecution advanced three theories of liability for murder: (1) that each defendant was the actual perpetrator; (2) that each defendant was a direct aider and abettor; and (3) that each defendant was an indirect aider and abettor of one of five “target crimes” under the natural and probable consequences doctrine.2 The trial court sentenced Higuera to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This court affirmed Higuera’s conviction in a 2009 unpublished opinion. (People v. Amante (Sept. 3, 2009, A113655).) On February 7, 2019, Higuera filed a petition under section 1170.95 to vacate his murder conviction and for resentencing. The prosecution opposed the petition and…