In re Smith CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

In 2018 Kaleah Smith pleaded no contest to first degree murder and attempted willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder. Smith later unsuccessfully sought to withdraw her plea. Her efforts to seek appellate review were also unsuccessful. Smith filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court, arguing her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance because he did not advise her accurately about her eligibility for a youth offender parole hearing under Penal Code section 3051.1 The Supreme Court ordered the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to show cause, returnable in this court, why Smith “is not entitled to relief based on her claim that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance during plea negotiations either by failing to advise her or by misadvising her as to her parole eligibility under . . . section 3051, subdivision (b)(3).” We grant the petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Smith Pleads No Contest to Murder and Attempted Murder In November 2015, when Smith was 22 years old, she went with several friends to a housing project, where one of the friends shot at two people sitting on some stairs. One…