People v. Sam CA3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Defendant’s case Given the nature of the instant appeal, a detailed recitation of the facts underlying defendant’s convictions is unnecessary. In sum, defendant and two compatriots lured the victim to the home of one of the compatriots under the pretext of a marijuana transaction, tied him up, and beat him. They then drove the victim’s car to his home, tied up the

Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 The Legislature amended former section 1170.95 effective January 1, 2022, under Senate Bill No. 775 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2021, ch. 551). This amendment to former section 1170.95 has no impact on the issues raised by this appeal.

Effective June 30, 2022, former section 1170.95 was recodified without substantive change to section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) In this opinion, we shall continue to refer to this section as former section 1170.95.

2 victim’s wife, and stole marijuana plants. They then took the victim to a nearby spot and shot and killed him. The next day, the victim’s car was burned. (People v. Shorter et al. (Sept. 7, 2016, C072977) [nonpub. opn.] (Shorter).) A jury found defendant guilty of first…