People v. Cao CA4/3

DISCUSSION

Cao contends the trial court improperly denied his petition at the prima facie stage based on the record of conviction. “This is a purely legal conclusion, which we review de novo.” (See People v. Murillo (2020) 54 Cal.App.5th 160, 167.) In this discussion, we will: A) review relevant legal principles, B) summarize the record of conviction, and C) analyze the law as applied to the facts.

A. Relevant Legal Principles “Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being . . . with malice aforethought.” (§ 187, subd. (a).) Malice may be express or implied. (§ 188, subd. (a).) However, under the felony-murder rule, a defendant may be convicted of murder without malice if a victim is killed during a predicate felony. (CALCRIM No. 540A [“A person may be guilty of felony murder even if the killing was unintentional, accidental or negligent”].) And under the natural and probable consequences theory, a defendant could be convicted of an unintentional murder (a nontarget offense), if the murder was a reasonably foreseeable result of an intended crime (a target offenses).

3 (People v. Montes (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 1050, 1055.) Effective January 1, 2019, the Legislature narrowed the…