People v. Garza CA5
Opinion
Opinion
INTRODUCTION
In 2000, petitioner Efrain Garza, Jr., pled nolo contendere to the first degree murder of Chad Yarbrough (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a); count 1).2 Petitioner admitted the special circumstance that he committed the murder while engaged in the commission or attempted commission of carjacking (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(L)).3 The trial court sentenced petitioner to a term of life without the possibility of parole. In 2019, petitioner filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6).4 The trial court denied the petition because petitioner admitted the carjacking special circumstance, which required him to admit he was a major participant acting with reckless disregard for human life, a disqualifying factor pursuant to Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill No. 1437). On appeal, petitioner contends he has established a prima facie case for entitlement of relief because the special circumstance admission cannot establish his ineligibility for resentencing as a matter of law because his conviction predates our Supreme Court’s decisions in Banks/Clark,5 which clarified the meaning of “major